How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 224 Threats and Military Power

Twin Harbors, the Noble Council.

After concluding the meeting on the reconstruction of parts of the Twin Ports and the relief of disaster victims, the Speaker returned to his room.

He closed the door and looked at the self-portrait hanging on the wall, a hint of ambition flashing in his eyes.

In the meeting just now, he handed over the most lucrative projects to the chamber of commerce under his own family, and the next best projects to chambers of commerce with which he had good relations.

As expected, his family's power will expand significantly after the demons attack Twin Harbors.

However, a hint of hatred flashed in his eyes when he thought of that annoying dean of the mage academy.

After all, the other party deliberately ignored his hints and let those self-proclaimed righteous Lantern Bearers into Twin Harbor. From now on, whatever he wants to do will probably be a lot more troublesome.

Bang! There was a knock on the door.

A maid came in and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

After hearing the maid's words, the Speaker smiled slightly and said, "Please invite the esteemed Dean Kane over. I will wait for him here."

The maid nodded and withdrew. Not long after, the door was pushed open, and a figure walked in—it was Kane, who had returned from the cave in the abandoned riverbed.

Seeing that Kane was covered in dirt and even had mud on his feet, the Speaker frowned almost imperceptibly before giving a polite smile.

"Dean Kane, may I ask what brings you here? I believe there has been sufficient openness between the Council and the Academy, and I think—"

"I need authorization from the council to hand over command of the legion and the sheriff to the academy," Kane said coldly.

"We discovered an army of undead outside a cave in the abandoned riverbed, enough to completely annihilate the entire Twin Harbor—I believe an evil ritual is likely taking place inside the cave—"

Only by mobilizing sufficient military forces can we penetrate deep into the cave, completely thwart this conspiracy, and eliminate evil.

Upon hearing this, the speaker's smile deepened.

He slowly sat down and smiled, "Dean Kane, I am willing to trust your judgment, but the council is not a decision I can make alone."

The meeting has just ended, and the next regular meeting will be in a week—moreover, it involves the command of the army, so we need to report to the Royal Council for a decision—”

"So how long will it take?"

"It could take a month if things go smoothly, or half a year if things go slowly."

The speaker wore a seemingly helpless expression.

Kane looked at the speaker who thought he had him figured out and said, "Speaker, what you said is indeed reasonable—after all, I am not a member of the local council and do not have the authority to mobilize troops, so I am helpless against you."

Just as the Speaker smiled, Kane spoke again: "But you've overlooked something."

The speaker's smile froze instantly, and he frowned, asking, "What is it?"

"That is, at this moment, no one would care if a speaker died."

Kane flashed his gleaming white teeth.

"What?!" The Speaker was shocked and immediately tried to ring the bell beside him.

As soon as the bell rings, the sheriff stationed at the council will arrive immediately. He absolutely does not believe that this branch dean of the Susas Mage Academy would dare to act against him in full view of everyone.

Just as his hand was about to touch the bell, a tremendous force grabbed his collar.

He felt himself being lifted up instantly, his breath caught in his throat, and he frantically tried to tear at his collar, but to no avail.

He was, after all, just an ordinary half-elf, whose strength didn't even reach the apprentice level.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you right away."

Kane grabbed the Twin Harbor Speaker by the collar, pushed open the door, and dragged him out.

Besides the guards, several red-robed mages stood outside the door.

But no one seemed to notice the scene of Kane dragging the Speaker out.

"This is?!"

The speaker's eyes widened in fury. "Damn it, you bribed my men?! You're trying to stage a coup?"

Kane, holding him with his right hand, said indifferently without turning his head, "You overestimate yourself—I merely had my subordinates use a few bewitching and illusion spells to temporarily prevent them from seeing and hearing anything."

Have you forgotten who I am?

A magic academy?! Damn it, these are all spell effects!

The speaker opened his mouth, never having hated these extraordinary professionals as much as he did today.

The corridor was long, and Kane dragged him all the way to the parliament hall.

Along the way, red-robed mages passed by from time to time, along with many guards and maids, but no matter who it was, they all acted as if they hadn't seen him at all.

This scene plunged his heart into an icy abyss.

He had thought that in this city, even royalty or dukes would give him some face, but now he realized how wrong he was.

Faced with absolute superhuman power, the honors and power he was so proud of were utterly insignificant.

With just a few spells, the opponent could kill him as easily as those lowly people he once despised.

Even in today's chaotic political climate, no one will seek revenge for him. Perhaps only many years later will someone use his death as an excuse to attack the magic academy.

Having figured this out, the speaker's face turned pale and then flushed.

Kane dragged him along until they reached the entrance of the council hall.

Although the two guards looked at his inexplicable dragging of air with suspicion, they still opened the gate for him.

Inside the door, many councilors were chatting in twos and threes, while some seats were already empty, indicating that the people had left.

The moment Kane entered, many people looked over, and when they saw him walk straight to the Speaker's reserved seat, they all showed puzzled expressions.

With a wave of Kane's hand, the Speaker appeared out of thin air beside the main seat, facing everyone, right before their eyes. He looked utterly bewildered, his collar disheveled, clearly still in shock.

Looking at the many councilors who had not yet left the council hall, Kane's voice, amplified by a megaphone, resounded throughout the entire hall: "The reconnaissance mission commissioned by His Excellency the Speaker from the Susas Academy of Mages has been completed. We have discovered an undead army in the abandoned riverbed area, an army capable of annihilating the entire Twin Harbors."

Upon hearing this news, the entire audience erupted in uproar.

Seeing the speaker's disheveled appearance, many people assumed that he had lost his composure because of this, and the number of questioning voices immediately decreased significantly.

Kane's voice continued: "Fortunately, we are strong enough to handle this crisis, but now we need a vote to authorize the Academy to mobilize its legions and sheriffs, and to provide special funds for hiring mercenaries—"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of discussions erupted in the hall.

Kane looked at the Speaker, whose face was still pale and ashen, and leaned close to his ear to whisper, "Your Excellency, please propose a resolution. I believe that for the safety of your wife and children, you will make a wise decision."

To the audience, this appeared to be merely an intimate conversation between the branch dean of the Susas Mage Academy and the local council speaker, two important figures.

But the speaker felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Threat! This is blatant intimidation!

But he had to admit that the moment he heard those words, an uncontrollable fear welled up inside him.

All along the way, all the guards ignored him, and even his cries for help seemed to go unheard.

Now, in the parliament hall, all the members of parliament, seeing his disheveled state, merely frowned slightly, without questioning him in the slightest, as if no one had noticed that he was being held hostage.

He couldn't distinguish between the effects of magic and what was real, but he knew he had to make a choice.

If he doesn't comply with the other party, he could be eliminated at any time under some pretext.

And there are already several ready-made reasons.

Kane looked at him coldly: "Now, let's invite our Speaker to make the proposal."

The speaker opened his mouth, but ultimately looked at the crowd staring at him and said, "I propose that the academy temporarily take over the local garrison troops—"

Inside the Lantern Bearers' temporary stronghold.

Among the Lantern Bearers who had just returned to rest, Finn the Lantern Knight showed a look of doubt and surprise the moment he received the message from the carrier pigeon.

He knew all too well how troublesome the local councils were. Every city in Nord was like this; even the royal family had to send a special representative to check and balance the council.

But Dean Kane dealt with these troublesome forces in just half a day. Recalling what the other party had said before, he vaguely guessed what methods they had used.

He pondered for a moment, then sent for Shar. Looking at the newly promoted second-tier, blonde ranger with several scratches on her body, he didn't exchange pleasantries and went straight to the point: "In your opinion, what kind of person is that Dean Kane?"

"Kane—" Shar's eyes flickered with complex emotions for a moment before she finally shook her head and said, "He was a kind and righteous man. He was the one who led me out of the Demon Cult's stronghold, across the Dark Forest to the City of War, but in the end, he was captured by the Demon Cult—"

I proposed to headquarters that we organize a team of professionals to rescue him, but the proposal was rejected.

"It's him?!"

Finn the Lantern wore a slightly embarrassed expression.

He was one of the people who initially thought the proposal was unreliable.

After all, traversing the Dark Forest was fraught with danger, and a single case of food poisoning could wipe out an entire squad. That's why his name was also on the signature of the veto document.

Now that Twin Harbor is in crisis, it is he who comes to the rescue of the Lantern Bearer.

"That's not all. In the war-torn city—the organ trafficking case that implicated countless slum dwellers—he was also the one who thoroughly investigated it."

Finally, left with no other choice, he became a Dead Apostle of the Night's Watch.

Finn's face was filled with astonishment: "He's the Blade of Vengeance?"

The case of trafficking in civilian organs was extremely complicated, involving not only the Nord mage tower but also the shadow of the Nord Queen. The Lamplighters headquarters did not allow them to intervene in the investigation.

So when the story of "Vengeance Blade" first came out, he always felt that the person who did it was a true hero.

"Yes." Shar took a deep breath, uttered this single word, and then said.

"Your Excellency, both I and the Lamp Bearer owe him far too much."

"I understand." Finn the Lantern Knight nodded and said, "You may leave now. I will contact headquarters afterward to propose strengthening cooperation with the Academy—as for repaying Dean Kane, rest assured, the Lantern Knight never owes a true friend anything."

"You should rest well. Tomorrow we will return to the cave with Dean Kane and fight side by side. You will be the liaison between the two sides."

Upon hearing this order, Shar's face lit up with delight, and she immediately replied, "Yes!"

After being hit by a thunderstorm, the corps' garrison has finally returned to calm.

The buildings that had been burned down have been demolished and replaced by temporary tents, but the soldiers' eyes are still filled with lingering frustration.

In addition to the buildings at the garrison being burned down, many soldiers were also wrapped in bandages, with fresh blood seeping through them.

Many familiar faces have vanished forever.

Previously, there had been rumors that the corps commander had gone missing due to his connection with the giant elephant demon that attacked Twin Ports.

The truth of the matter is still uncertain, but the captains have already reported it to the royal court. The reasons given for the report even include that the military giant crossbow was deliberately damaged in order to facilitate the demons' destruction of the port.

However, there are also rumors circulating that the corps commander was attacked by the thundercloud summoned by the mage academy because he defected to the duke.

After all, the thunderstorm cloud that attacked the camp didn't look like it was formed naturally, and there was indeed a group of hooded mages whose faces were obscured outside the camp at the time.

However, these rumors were suppressed by Captain Valentine, who was temporarily acting as Commander Frankie, and he strictly forbade everyone to discuss them anymore.

At that moment, Captain Valentine was in the largest tent at the camp, discussing matters with the other captains.

"The council has issued a new directive, requiring us and the sheriff's team to follow the command of the mage academy and jointly send troops to wipe out the undead army in the abandoned riverbed cave."

"How many are there?"

"I don't know, but I estimate there are at least several thousand. The vast majority are not even at the apprentice level, but there are quite a few undead equivalent to professional level—"

There was even a Tier 3 Skeleton Wanderer.

Upon hearing this number, everyone looked at each other in disbelief, and someone immediately cursed, "This is clearly sending us to our deaths!"

"The magic academy attacked us with spells back then, and now they want us to work for them? Who would want to go!"

"We've only repaired one giant crossbow; all the other heavy weaponry is destroyed. What are we going to use to attack?"

The crowd erupted in angry curses, but Valentine, sitting in the main seat, merely frowned and did not join in.

Unlike others, he is a native of Twin Harbor and has a deeper attachment to the city.

Valentine spoke up: "Perhaps this wasn't meant to send us to our deaths—the Duke's Merchant Guild has been wiped out, Frankie is missing, and there's no longer any reason for us to be enemies with the Academy."

"Moreover, with the assistance of that powerful team of second-tier mages, the support we receive may not be inferior to that of heavy weaponry—"

After all, you witnessed the power of that thundercloud that night.

"Otherwise, after the Mage Academy leaves Twin Harbor, we will be the ones left to deal with the undead in the abandoned riverbed."

After all, according to the laws promulgated by the royal court, the military corps had the duty to eliminate enemies and deal with potential crises in the city.

Upon hearing this, the others frowned and exchanged glances.

They had to admit that the interim commander's words did indeed make sense.

If the mage academy leaves, they will ultimately have to fill the gap themselves. But their biggest concern right now is whether the academy will use them as cannon fodder.

Just as everyone was discussing this, a messenger rushed in and shouted, "They're here—"

"Bring them here—no, I'll go to greet them myself."

Valentine took a deep breath, beckoned the captains to stand up, and immediately led them out to greet them.

In the distance outside the camp, a long caravan of carriages was slowly approaching.

At the very front of the group was a human man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in a gray-white robe.

Valentine knew that this was the legendary Kane, who, despite being a Nord, had become the head of a branch of the Mage Academy.

The group of red-robed mages beside him all wore respectful expressions, which confirmed his identity.

As the convoy approached, the captains and their soldiers went to meet it.

Valentine was about to speak to Dean Kane when the latter raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Commander Valentine, let's skip the pleasantries and distribute the gold coins and supplies from the convoy to all the soldiers."

"What?"

Upon hearing that money and supplies were to be distributed, the team leaders looked at each other, completely bewildered.

But the soldiers around him instantly lit up with excitement.