My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 226 Roland's Solo Investigation

Roland and Flam returned to the First Fortress with a newly recruited henchman.

They then gathered everyone together immediately, including Mash and the guild's helpers.

Soon after, the next action plan was finalized.

The plan was quite simple: Iluvia would use her innate spell to control a soul entity to conduct preliminary reconnaissance, while Mash and Emilia would be responsible for analyzing the intelligence.

After analyzing the intelligence, we will discuss the next steps.

Of course, this is assuming intelligence gathering goes smoothly.

If Iluvia's intelligence gathering fails, or if she cannot analyze the current situation in the city from the intelligence she obtains, then Roland will have no choice but to physically enter the main city to find out what's going on.

As for Flam and Remilia, these two ninth-ring legends are responsible for covering the fallback. Whether they can handle it or not is another matter. In any case, to prevent them from losing contact like the three ninth-ring legends in the main city, these two high-end combatants should not enter the main city for the time being. Their task is to guard the perimeter.

In the worst-case scenario, if all three ninth-ring powerhouses from the military are corrupted by cognition and turned into monsters, then including Amya, the First Fortress City would have three corresponding combat forces. If we also include Cellina, whose combat power is temporarily on par with ninth-ring powerhouses after activating her rune, then it would basically be a 70/30 situation.

As long as the great demon, on whom Roland places high hopes, can unleash combat power at the level of a prisoner and not be kicked to death like a stray dog, holding off the enemy will be considered a success.

Of course, everyone hopes this situation will not happen.

Three nine-ringed warriors... and they are all seasoned veterans from the military, one of whom is even a meritorious old general of the empire, a royal court-level expert whose strength is no less than that of Kefas... I hope the old general is alright.

"Then let's do it as agreed."

"Iluvia, I'll leave the rest to you. You'll be in charge of the initial intelligence gathering."

"If your methods fail to gather intelligence, then I will have to go in myself."

Iluvia nodded to Roland upon hearing this: "No problem."

"Also, Ms. Flam, this ring is for you. It can be used to prevent cognitive interference, but its effectiveness cannot be guaranteed. It is recommended to use it in conjunction with the device you have learned."

"If you're really unsure, just have Nina wear the ring and test it. She has similar methods to mine to ignore cognitive contamination and interference."

As Roland spoke, he took out the cognitive interference ring and handed it to Flam.

Seeing Roland hand over such an item, even Remilia, who had just joined the party, couldn't help but say, "Are you really planning to go into the main city by yourself?"

Roland laughed: "Didn't I say before that if Iluvia's methods can detect intelligence, I won't go in? Now we'll investigate the situation outside and see if we can find General Landros's trail. It would be best if we could make contact with him."

"But if her methods don't work, I'm the only one on the scene who's confident I can ignore the cognitive impact."

"Faced with a cognitive influence that even a ninth-ring expert cannot resist, it's safer for me to go in and out alone than for the whole group to go in together. At least I can protect myself, even if..."

Roland did not say the second half of the sentence.

Even if I really die, it won't be a big problem. I still have a substitute puppet. At worst, I can go back to the magic academy in the capital and resurrect myself.

Moreover, given his self-preservation abilities, it is indeed quite difficult to trigger his resurrection ability.

Although the substitute puppet is valuable, it is worth it compared to having Kalia and the others accompany me into danger.

After all, since the system has given us a substitute puppet, we can always get a second one.

I've only been linked to the system for a little over a month; there's plenty of time ahead of me.

And this is only a last resort.

If Iluvia's investigative methods are truly as unique as she claims, then they might not be entirely useless.

Roland didn't say anything more after that.

Apart from Amy and Remilia, everyone present generally had full trust in Roland.

Especially Kalia.

After all, others still had some concerns.

Sending a sixth-circle mage deep into the currently unclear capital city of Isfar is not a good idea.

Especially now that it has been confirmed that cognitive pollution within the main city of Isfar will directly lead to flesh and blood mutation, turning people into bizarre monsters.

If we consider the worst-case scenario, the main city is already a scene of hell.

Putting aside everything else, even if we can ignore the impact of cognitive pollution, the fact that there are at least hundreds of thousands of flesh-and-blood monsters that could be transformed from residents is a danger that cannot be ignored.

Both Celinina and Fram shared similar ideas.

Even if those monsters don't pose a significant threat to Roland, Roland's own magical power is limited.

Even if you prepare enough imprinted bullets in advance to fire the Boundary-Breaking Spear to clear out monsters, the magical environment inside the city is still unknown.

But Kalia wasn't worried at all.

Ever since her first meeting with Roland in Riskan, she had come to understand a principle.

Roland would never do something unprepared.

What the others present did not know was that Amya, a staunch "one of their own," reported the discovery to Salah III after learning of the potential threat posed by the flesh mutation, and suggested that he erase Isfar, and at worst rebuild a border fortress based on the three satellite cities.

Although it will be a huge expense... it's better than the pollution spreading.

However, Salah III did not give him an answer.

Amya wasn't in a hurry, after all, this was the only option available.

Isfar Fortress is more than just a border fortress.

It was also the front line against invasions from the northern Kingdom of Plataea.

Although the human race forged an alliance after the Demon King War under the witness of heroes, the Church, and the Academy... some things cannot be restricted by a simple alliance.

In recent years, despite repeated warnings from the Papacy and the Society against the Kingdom of Plataea's border raids against the Empire and even against its constituent states within the federation of nations, the situation has remained unchanged.

However, given that no large-scale conflict has ever broken out, none of the parties have resorted to major military action.

However, the crisis has already begun to take shape, and destroying our own fortress at this critical juncture is not a good idea.

The operation began quickly. Accompanied by an officer and a squad, Flam and Remilia led Roland, Iluvia, and Mash to the front of the blockade.

The magnificent fortress came into Roland's view for the first time.

The colossal city walls, reaching heights of tens of meters, and the silver, circular structure suspended above the main city, which appeared to be even larger than the entire city, left Roland momentarily stunned.

What is this thing?! Has the Empire's technology advanced to this level?!

He thought he'd only just reached the level of mastering the magic train! What is this?!

Seeing this, Flam explained, "Don't misunderstand, this isn't the Empire's scientific research achievement, or at least not entirely."

"This thing was originally a floating module of the Demon King's castle. After it was recycled and modified, it became what you see here."

"However, I don't know what this thing does, since it's a military secret."

Roland nodded, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief.

He had assumed that while he was away from the academy, his teacher Toran, a giant in the empire's scientific research, had suddenly attained enlightenment.

but……

The thought that Mashu could create a crudely made Transformers-style Gundam for herself makes it seem not so unacceptable for the Empire to modify it and create a suspended megastructure larger than a city.

He still knew far too little about modern human magical technology. At that moment, the officer in charge turned around and said apologetically, "Sorry, this is the farthest point we've reached."

"If we go any further... the fluctuations in magic will become strange. Some of the brothers started to act strangely after getting close. According to the researcher from the society in charge of contamination cleanup, they have developed mild infection symptoms, but because the contact time is short and the concentration of contamination is low, the impact is not significant."

"So we fixed the blockade line here."

Roland nodded, then looked at Mash: "Is the distance here alright?"

“You should ask your fiancée. I’m just responsible for reading the images.” Mashu rolled her eyes and then started fiddling with the equipment she had brought.

Iluvia then said, "The distance is still quite far, but entering the city is no problem, though I doubt we can explore the entire main city."

"It's alright. Anyway, exploration can't be done overnight. It's safer to investigate little by little."

Iluvia nodded and then released her spell.

As eerie purple flames spread from Iluvia's feet, everyone present, including Flam and Remilia, felt a chilling cold flash by.

It wasn't just the temperature; it was more like a feeling that came from the soul.

Iluvia closed her eyes and flicked her wrist, projecting an image onto everyone's screen.

Upon seeing this, Mashu immediately activated the portable equipment she had brought. Soon, the details of the projected image began to be captured by the instrument in her hand, ready to be analyzed.

But soon everyone was stunned.

The city was completely empty; nothing existed there.

Neither normal residents nor soldiers, nor the city filled with a group of twisted, fleshy monsters as they had initially imagined, occurred.

There was nothing in the city except for empty buildings.

It was like a ghost town.

Seeing this, Roland couldn't help but ask, "Iluvia, is there really nothing wrong with your spell?"

"...Everything is normal, I didn't feel any interference." Iluvia was also a little confused.

Flam and Remilia exchanged a glance, and then began to examine Iluvia.

The two legendary figures of the Nine Rings quickly reached a conclusion.

“Iluvia’s spell was not interfered with by any form of magic; there is no problem with the magical fluctuations within her body or with this projection.”

"There is very likely nothing inside the city."

This result was obviously absurd to everyone present.

A ghost town? Hundreds of thousands of residents, an entire legion of soldiers stationed there, and three ninth-ring experts from the military—could they have all vanished?
Although it's hard to admit, this conclusion isn't wrong, considering the areas Iluvia has been able to explore so far.

Even the detection device brought by Mash couldn't obtain any information from Iluvia's projection.

Clearly, Iluvia's reconnaissance mission failed, but it was not a complete failure.

But it can't be considered a success.

Her technique effectively scouted the city without affecting herself.

But she couldn't find any valuable clues.

This only raised an even bigger question.

What exactly happened in the main city?
The disappearance of everyone in the main city is far more terrifying than everyone turning into fleshy monsters.

At least the latter is a known enemy, while the former is an unknown fear.

Roland took a deep breath and then looked at Iluvia, who seemed somewhat remorseful.

Roland reached out and patted the other person's head: "Alright, don't overthink it. Wait here for me."

"I'll go in, take a look, and then come out."

"They'll be out soon, don't worry."

After calming the somewhat uneasy Iluvia, Roland took a deep breath, tightened his coat and scarf, and then crossed the blockade line, heading towards the main city of Isfar.

Roland was also a little nervous.

To be honest, this was probably his first truly solo operation.

He was accompanied by his father, Lancelot, during his childhood. After Lancelot passed away, he did not accept any commissions between the time of his entrance exams and his father's death.

After the assessment, he rested for a few months, and then he met Kalia...

After that, he never acted alone again.

Even when fishing in the capital, Floram and Cherlinina were secretly following him.

Well, it's understandable that a man is a little nervous the first time.

In other words, Cellina played a sneak attack, taking advantage of his vulnerability; otherwise, he would have been nervous at first.

"Phew... Let me see what's going on in this city."

Standing before the wide-open city gate, Roland took one last deep breath, glanced back at Iluvia, and stepped inside.

Just as Roland stepped through the city gate, those still outside noticed something amiss.

The moment Roland stepped into the city gate, he vanished without a trace!

Iluvia was about to lose control when she saw this, but Flam reacted quickly and held her down.

"Calm down. At least now I have some ideas about the situation in the city."

"Spatial anomaly? No... I can't sense any spatial fluctuations. It's not the effect of spatial displacement or disorder."

"...Hey shut-in, use your innate magic to touch the city wall."

Remilia's eyes widened, and she pointed at herself, saying, "Huh? Me?! You're making me do something this dangerous?"

Upon hearing this, Iluvia couldn't help but shift her attention to the great demon who had suddenly lost his composure.

Before, when he wasn't speaking, he clearly appeared to be a cold and taciturn great demon, with a very strong aura.

Why does my voice sound like Kalia's...?

Flam rolled her eyes at Remilia: "What do you think I called you here for? You're good at protecting yourself, so you're the one who should be doing this dangerous job. I can't possibly do it myself, can I?"

Remilia pouted: "Tch, all you do is bully me..."

Despite complaining, the lowly demon was bound by the contract and did as he was told.

Soon, something strange happened.

The thin, sharp spikes that formed from the congealed blood flew hundreds of meters before piercing straight through the seemingly indestructible city wall, as if the wall had never existed.

The Bloodthorn was quickly withdrawn, and no movement or sound came from the city wall.

Only the rippling waves showed that Remilia's spell had indeed passed through the tens of meters high city wall.

(End of this chapter)