A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 166 Game Over (Part 1)

"That's to say, I also know a little about arcane arts. Heh, what's that called... telekinesis? I can use my mental power to pick up a golf ball that's fallen into the hole. Of course, I don't succeed every time, but I did it without any special training."

The man chattered on and on beside her, beaming with pride.

Moonlight streamed down her white stockings, and the quiet, unassuming girl evoked images of Sleeping Beauty or the Princess of the Night. Although Quinn always treated her like a little girl, Lynn was only a bit young in stature, her sexual characteristics seemingly undeveloped, but her appearance was anything but young; she possessed a unique, flawless beauty that fell somewhere between a girl and a young woman.

Quinn had only been gone a short while when a steady stream of men came to strike up a conversation with her. But Grindelwald's school uniform made them all polite, and they would leave once she ignored them. However, there were still persistent individuals who were quite confident in their own abilities, such as the one at this moment.

"Grindelwald probably sent me an acceptance letter too, sigh. My talent must have threatened someone else's interests, so they hid my acceptance letter. Capital wins. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, my father is the High Judge of the Kingdom of Ron, in charge of tax cases. Let me sit down and tell you slowly—"

Only after the man sat down next to her as if they were old friends did Lin slowly turn her head. Her clear, white eyes seemed to only now notice him, and she said softly, "Someone's here."

"Ok?"

The name "Lin" meant "There's someone here, please leave," but not everyone can automatically translate a little girl's language like Quinn. Seeing that the beautiful schoolgirl was finally willing to talk to him, the man was overjoyed.

"Someone. Yes! Of course there are people. My dad knows a ton of people. Look at that guy giving the speech on stage right now, Branson—uh, Elon, I call him Elon in private, haha."

Perhaps because they were talking about peers who were far more accomplished than himself, the man's tone was inevitably a little weaker, but he quickly resumed his boastful talk: "Oh, last time he came to our house, he asked my father for a favor, about running for councilor. It was a small matter; my dad agreed on the spot—"

Lin pouted slightly.

It was such a small movement that it was barely noticeable unless you looked closely. Most people would interpret it as a cute, silly expression, but it was actually a reaction of her displeasure.

If you take the seat, where will Pizza sit?
She raised her small hand, preparing to use spatial magic to send this babbling man to a random, lucky location a kilometer away, thus protecting the pizza's position.

Immediately, Lin blinked.

The space has been solidified.

The difficulty of spatial magic lies in the need to consider a vast number, even astronomical, of variables. The spatial orientation, the amount of mana, the distance to the spirit world, the flow of time, and the influence of every thing, every person, and every soul within this space—at this moment, these variables are magnified a thousandfold, as if a massive force of mana is surging and influencing them like a flood.

Lynn's spatial magic has improved significantly since the start of the semester. After all, she didn't want to sit on Quinn's face again, so she's spent the last two months studying it diligently. She can still move in this situation, but it takes a considerable amount of time to break through the solidified space, and the energy expenditure is substantial, making it somewhat counterproductive.

Lin wasn't really stubborn; when faced with this situation, she repeated, "There's someone there."

"Uh-huh?"

Lin was even angrier. How come no one but Quinn could understand what she was saying?
"There are people here. You, get out of here."

Now I understand, but men are experts in the art of picking up girls—dislike breeds liking, it's always better to have something to say than nothing, and now that you've spoken, I can't leave.

"Someone? Wow, they might know me. After all, I'm a little known; specifically, I once won second place in the junior division of the Berlin County Golf Championship. The day of the finals was really thrilling, oh, it was pouring rain!"

As they were talking, the girl beside him fell silent again. The man followed her indifferent gaze and saw that the sky was gloomy, as if a torrential downpour was about to begin.

The Kingdom of Ron, Axwell, and Britain are all coastal countries of the southern continent. It is common for the weather to be unpredictable in summer. But today is the Arcane Festival. Everyone knows that the academy controls the weather to ensure sunny days. Why would it rain?
He soon realized that it wasn't that the sky had darkened.

It was a phenomenon created by the light of Grindelwald's Eye.

The colossal white-gray tower, a symbol of Eswell's prosperous era, was now dim and lifeless. Only the spherical arcane matrix, suspended atop its spire like a giant celestial body, trembled incessantly. The surrounding sky inexplicably deepened, as the invisible yet omnipresent mana transformed into a raging torrent—

Less than ten seconds after the anomaly occurred.

The man heard a faint sound coming from the distant horizon, like the buzzing of bees, the trembling of a great bell, or a giant striking a mountain. The sound came from the top of the tower, and he even saw cracks appearing at the spire that supported the arcane matrix.

The man wasn't exaggerating; he did possess a certain talent for arcane arts. He heard the strange sounds of the Eye of Grindelwald much earlier than ordinary people. Even earlier, all the extraordinary beings and arcane mages at the party looked up, and Lynn was the first to do so. Even now, the sound was palpable to ordinary people; the air was restless, as if a thousand troops were pressing in. Thump, thump, thump.
Elon paused his speech on the main stage, then looked up, his brow furrowing deeper. Some people in the audience stood up, their expressions grave. A hissing sound came from the arcane amplifiers, indicating that the arcane amplification matrix covering the venue was being interfered with by Manaqiang. He waved his hand—

"What are the control towers doing? Whose airship is planning to leave port? Is it heading to the Northern Continent? Why are they making such a big commotion? Send a telegram to them to cut off the power supply to the Eye of Grindelwald!"

"I've already sent it, but there's been no response."

Before the airport management personnel at Branson's house could act, two Grindelwald teachers who came to watch the party had already started moving, riding brooms and taking off like rockets. But before they were halfway up, they fell back down as if they had encountered a strong convective weather system. More people began to run towards the entrance of Grindelwald's Eye.
A deafening clap of thunder suddenly erupted, and mana turbulence had formed visible cloud rings in the sky. These were all mana elements in the air, like shallow ripples on the sea surface during an earthquake. Beneath these ripples, some kind of cataclysmic wave was forming—

Even the massive Aiswell Airport building began to tremble, and an ominous premonition rose in the hearts of everyone present. Unease and restlessness began to spread, and a terrified scream ignited the frying pan, thus beginning the chaos.

"What happened? What happened? What happened?!"

Without Lin urging him, the man stood up on his own. His position was right in the center of the audience, making it difficult to run. He nervously looked left and right, "An earthquake?!"

Lin's light, airy voice, tinged with a hint of confusion, rang out—

"Aimed."

"What? Aiming?" The man had given up on pursuing her; although the girl was unbelievably beautiful, she seemed mentally unstable. "What are you still sitting there for? Earthquake! Run!!"

"."

Lin remained silent.

The man was extremely anxious. Although he was a somewhat unreliable rich kid, the morals he had developed in Ron’s aristocratic environment made it impossible for him to abandon Lin.

"What are you waiting for? This place might collapse!!"

"Waiting for the pizza."

"???"

Lin's little hands remained obediently placed on her knees.

She said calmly, "They can't escape."

This happened in a very short time, less than half a minute.

The first group to rush into Grindelwald's Eye had already fallen from the sky, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. No one knew what they had encountered inside the tower, but this bloody scene ignited the night, like pouring water into boiling oil. Terrified screams and cries rose and fell. Some who were near the exits managed to escape, only to be blocked by the crowds waiting for fireworks outside. The tremors grew increasingly pronounced, like a mountain shaking.
The man finally saw worry on Lin's face; this was the first time the little girl had shown an emotion that even ordinary people could understand.

The concern isn't about the current terrifying and unusual situation, but about someone who hasn't returned yet.

She looked around. She could see through the rhythm of arcane magic and the mysteries of the matrix, but she didn't have the eyes of a thief. She couldn't find that person in the chaotic, fleeing crowd. She was like a lost child, quietly waiting for her parents to come and pick her up.

At last.

Lin looked up. The guy who had been saving the seat was still babbling on and on, but she no longer cared. Should she activate her defensive spell?
The thought crossed his mind, and his hand moved.

A huge, shimmering curtain, radiating light like crystal, instantly enveloped the entire venue, shielding the more than three thousand people like an umbrella.

Lin didn't know where you went to buy pizza, so she chose to protect everyone.

But while everyone else was hidden behind the curtain, she alone remained outside. And so, a dazzling light, visible only to Lin, burst forth in the sky—

Like the gates of heaven opening, the dim and lifeless Eye of Grindelwald lit up, and with that light, the sky was filled with stars. A magnificent magic circle, ten times larger than that used for launching airships, suddenly opened up, like a fully drawn bow, expanding, stretching, and tightening. A supernova-like bright spot was reflected in Lin's eyes.

Brighter than her eyes.

The two points were aligned, aimed at the girl who remained unmoved like a doll, silently increasing the output of the barrier.

All sounds in the world seemed to disappear at that moment.

Space was compressed and crushed layer by layer, then transformed into water-like ripples that suddenly spread across the entire sky. The giant magic array blocking the moon shattered at the moment it reached its peak power, and a massive tremor, like a magnitude 10 earthquake, shook the mountains in an instant, even causing ripples like ocean waves to spread across Mirror Lake.

Endless light swept across the city.

come down.

It swallowed her completely, leaving her motionless.

The City of Eternal Day, the heart of the Church of Light, lies beneath Saint Camelot, before the magnificent gate known as the 'Central Dogma'.

The petite, blonde pope sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a yellowed scroll in her hands, and in a corner beneath the scroll, a glimmer of light was shining.

This is a containment object, numbered 0-7, named 'The Beginning of Guidance'.

She prefers to call it a 'map'.

She closed the map and casually set it aside, glancing at the gate sealed by the remains of angels before her, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Finally, it's lit up! The brave warrior has finally escaped the tutorial, you little brat! If you mess this up, I'll scold you! Your daughter is still in Aishwell!"

On the sea half a world away from Eswell.

In the endless, vast fog, a golden stream of light pierced through from the side of the northern continent, cutting across the sky that had been sealed off by the Misty Sea for more than a decade. The chaotic fog, filled with divine whispers and mirages of time, did not hinder the speed of the golden light at all; it almost tore the illusory and magnificent sea of ​​fog in two.

The journey abruptly ended at a certain point in the foggy sea, where an airship lay anchored on the surface, its wings bearing the ancient emblem of Grindelwald's alma mater. On the airship's deck, a suit of armor over two meters tall stood silently, as if awaiting a guest from afar.

The golden light gradually transformed into a human form, and even the sky seemed to shrink in its presence.

A man's voice came from inside the armor. He said indifferently, "You've come all this way to help me suppress the Misty Sea, haven't you?"

The golden light seemed to come from the snow-capped mountain at the highest point of the sky, carrying a deep sense of amusement: "So it was you who hid that thing. It can play a real role in my hands, and I can grant the Elven race their wish."

"Let's make a deal. When I conquer the Southern Continent, I will leave Aiswell untouched, allowing the academy to continue as that ivory tower, detached from the world. How about it?"

The voice from within the armor was neither humble nor arrogant.

"Your Majesty has no daughter, does he?"

"Ha. No one can ever say no to what I want."

"Then go get it. I'll wait for you in the Empire." The voice inside the armor had a roguish, thuggish quality, and it was unclear where he learned it from: "If you feel you didn't get enough of a fight last time, or if you can win with one less person, I can play with you all day long."

Jin Guang remained silent for a while.

"I am very much looking forward to seeing what his 'idea' will be."

Having said that, he vanished into the vast fog.

Grindelwald.

On the eve of the Eye of Grindelwald going out of control, the three deans, Fufomark, Hermes, and Stephens, who had received an alarm from the Axwell magic circle, appeared in the sky in an instant. Soon after, more and more professors and department heads also flew over on broomsticks, and they all stopped here as if they had crashed into a wall.

Fufumark was the first to ask: "Are they going to set off fireworks at this time during the Arcane Festival?"

Hermes' face was as black as charcoal: "What kind of fireworks could reach the scale of a ninth-order arcane spell? Something's happened in the city—"

Stephens' tone also became serious: "Many students are in the city. What's going on? Why is the academy's space locked?"

Fufumark took out his wand, closed his eyes, and sensed for a moment before muttering, "It's Nibelungen's automatic shutdown. Something triggered the 'Big Melon' pre-emptive strike'? Why?"

A surprised discussion immediately broke out: "The Big Melon Eating Contingency Plan"—a name that sounds a bit nonsensical, but it is the highest-level alarm of Nibelungen, the oldest defensive magic of the Grindelwald humans. Once triggered, the Academy will directly sever its connection with the real world, and the entire space will be anchored in the spirit world for refuge.

This alarm has only been triggered once in history—at the beginning of the 400th year of the Divine Calendar, when the demons attacked the academy, a moment of life and death.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—"

A flustered voice came from below; it was Dakin, the head of the research and development department, rushing out of the laboratory with a staff in hand. This boy was the only person besides the principal with the authority to mobilize the Nibelungs—

"The Demon King—the Demon King is here!! The Nibelungen have detected the Demon King!! Damn it, let's fight the Demon King! I'm going to capture you right now, Demon King, you wait for me—"

Everyone looked at each other.

Grindelwald looked as peaceful as could be.

Demon King? Where is there a Demon King?
When the light of Grindelwald's Eye faded.

Quinn and Ancusia stood by the window, watching everything unfold before them.

"Are you sure that's a hero?" Ankua's tone was extremely complicated.

Quinn felt a dryness in his throat. He looked at the tattered 'Lin' and mumbled, "..."

"what is that?"

(End of this chapter)