Above the mage

Chapter 262 Lifting the Imprisonment

Thomas died just like that.

Elder Grant frowned, squatted down to examine the wound, and finally stood up and said, "The poison was hidden inside the teeth. What a terrifyingly potent poison. From ingestion to the onset of symptoms to complete death, it all happened in just a few breaths."

"It was my oversight," he gritted his teeth, his face grim, and apologized to Loich, "I didn't consider the possibility that he might commit suicide, and the only clue has been lost."

As things stand, Thomas is the only lead and witness left, and yet he committed suicide in front of them.

What made it even more embarrassing for him was that, according to Thomas's last testimony before his death, Catherine's arrest was also related to him.

Thomas was his servant, so from that perspective, Elder Grant also bears some responsibility for Catherine's current predicament.

However, Loich has no time to delve into these details right now.

His only thought at that moment was to find a way to clear Catherine's name and rescue her from imprisonment as soon as possible.

He silently stepped forward, approached Thomas's body, slowly closed his eyes, gently raised his hands, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

A barely perceptible magical fluctuation suddenly filled the air.

The next instant, a silver light burst forth from the tip of his nose and then vanished silently.

This is the power of magic.

Second-circle transformation spells.

【Hound tracking】.

With his eyes closed, Loich focused his mind. At this moment, his sense of smell had become exceptionally acute. Every molecule in the air seemed to be clearly discernible, and various scents flooded into his nostrils like a tide.

The fragrance of earth, the freshness of golden wheat, and the unique scent of Thomas himself, along with the fibrous smell of his clothes.

These scents intertwine to form a complex olfactory portrait.

Loich filtered out all the common, useless smells and focused on finding the smells he needed.

Finally, an extremely pungent, chemical-like odor assaulted his sense of smell.

He twitched his nostrils, as if to confirm the discovery.

After confirming that everything was correct, Loich suddenly opened his eyes, his tone filled with excitement.

"If it were anything else, I might really have no way to deal with it, but that magical pet just happens to be a toad magical pet."

Looking at Thomas's fallen body, Loich said with self-pity, "Although scent tracking is a strength and ability of every hunter who practices [Wilderness Secrets], in reality, this ability is not as powerful as it seems, and it has many limitations."

"For example, if the time interval is too long, the smells are too similar, or there are too many complex and numerous smell conditions, smell tracking often becomes ineffective."

It's like a pot of strongly flavored dish; you can hardly identify all the seasonings in it. But in a pot of light and original soup, you can always easily identify all the seasonings.

The same applies to odor tracking.

The 【Wilderness Secrets】 training method can improve a mage's performance in the "Tracking" spell, and also grant the mage abilities including "Enhanced Sense of Smell".

However, it is not a panacea.

Loych was able to track Goddard's scent across the snowfield largely because Goddard was an outsider with a diet completely different from that of the Northerners, thus possessing a very unique and distinctive scent that was easy to track.

If Gaudí is also from the North, given that people from the North generally have similar scents, it would be extremely difficult to track him down across the vast snowfields.

"But the toad pet secretes a special kind of mucus from its skin, which has a very unique and pungent odor that makes it easy to identify and easily stains clothing."

"Toads are animals that don't naturally exist in the North, so there might only be one toad in the entire Phoenix that exists as a magical pet. There's no need to worry about it being confused by the scent of other toads," Loich explained confidently.

"Furthermore, only five days have passed. Under these circumstances, I have every means to track down where this toad-like pet has finally disappeared by its scent."

"Having found that toad-like demonic creature means we've at least found the real culprit, or at least someone who knows the truth," he said confidently to Elder God and Elder Grant.

He could find more clues by following the scent of the toad-like creature Thomas mentioned.

No matter how meticulous the mastermind behind the scenes, it is ultimately impossible to be completely flawless, even if the flaw is very small.

But even this tiny flaw was enough for Loich to create a hole as big as a mountain.

Now that we have a clue, the next step is to follow it closely.

Loich's professionalism is beyond question.

After casting [Hound Tracking], combined with the enhanced sense of smell and tracking spell effects from the [Wilderness Secrets] training method, plus Loych's own tracking ability, no trace of even the slightest scent can escape his notice.

"Go ahead and investigate to the end. Don't worry, no matter who the other party is, I will not let this go. If all else fails, I will report it to the higher authorities and ask Mother Zhan to take action."

Elder Grant said in a deep voice, "If they were only targeting your Holy Maiden, the War Mother might not be willing to take action. After all, this is a matter for your sect, and she shouldn't interfere."

"But since the mastermind has set his sights on Jin Huimai of our tribe, then this matter is related to the Zhenbing tribe, and Zhanmu will certainly not tolerate this behavior."

At this point, Elder Grant's gaze turned fierce.

"With your words of reassurance, Elder, I am relieved," Loych replied.

Anyone could see that the mastermind behind this was incredibly powerful, so he was genuinely worried that even if he tracked down the real culprit, he might not be able to capture him.

But if the Zhenbing tribe were to intervene, things would be different.

The Zhenbing Tribe is the largest and strongest tribe in the Northern Territory, making it the number one power there.

Even if the entire Snowfield Guardians sect were combined, they would still be no match for the Zhenbing tribe.

late at night.

Everything was silent, and the cold wind howled.

The streets of Phoenix were almost deserted, with snowflakes falling intermittently.

In the North, once night falls, there is virtually no activity.

But tonight, in an inconspicuous gray stone house in the alley, whispers can still be heard.

The oil lamp flickered brightly, and there was a sizzling sound of burning charcoal.

Several figures sat in a circle, eating beef soup that was already boiling in a pot over a charcoal fire in the freezing weather.

"The problem with the ice worms has been resolved, and the plan to remove Grant from his position as elder has also failed."

"Didn't you swear to me that everything would be perfectly safe at this moment?"

"It was originally foolproof. Given the elusive nature of ice nematodes, how could we have discovered them without prior contact, let alone found a solution in such a short time? Your elder's knowledge far exceeds my expectations."

The man explained helplessly, his words carried away by the cold wind.

"What's that sound?!" Just then, one of them suddenly perked up his ears, as if he had discovered something.

But in that instant of alertness, several arrows pierced the night like lightning, whistling through the bone door and into the house.

The arrow appeared a serene blue under the moonlight, faintly reflecting a glimmer of ice crystals.

These are no ordinary arrows; they are ice arrows!

The person inside let out a muffled groan, clearly caught off guard by the sudden attack.

After that wave of ice arrows, the room fell into a deathly silence, as if everyone inside had already been wiped out by that wave of ice arrows.

However, in the next instant, with a loud bang, the walls of the stone house collapsed.

Immediately afterwards, several figures rushed out from the collapsed wall and fled in different directions.

However, after they rushed out, they were shocked to find that their house was surrounded by nearly twenty high-level Iceborn mages.

As the Iceborn mages saw them rushing towards their faces, they all wore mocking and confident smiles.

Instantly, a surge of intense magical energy emanated from their palms, transforming into icy blue starlight that shot towards the frantically fleeing figures.

After the light left his hand, it was like tiny shooting stars, tracing beautiful streaks in the sky before landing on the fleeing people.

Each hit is accompanied by a crisp sound of ice breaking.

Several new stars fell on the same person's body, instantly freezing him into an ice sculpture.

"Elder, we've taken them all." On the outermost edge, an Iceborn mage reported softly to Elder Grant.

Elder Grant nodded in satisfaction and said to Loich beside him, "This time I've learned my lesson. Once I make a move, I won't give them any chance, including suicide."

"Thank you for your help, Elder," Loich said gratefully.

With Loich's abilities, he quickly located the toad-like creature Thomas had mentioned by smell.

Fortunately, he didn't leave Phoenix.

This time, however, after discovering the target, Loich did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, he waited for Elder Grant to "send" enough people to ensure that everything was foolproof before he made his move.

After all, if this lead goes cold again, then there will truly be no way to save it.

Elder Grant and Loich walked up to the figures that had been frozen in place.

"How did you find us?" one of the men asked, looking at the two approaching figures with resentment and a hint of anger in his voice.

Loich did not answer their questions. Instead, he glanced at their faces, shook his head, and turned to Elder Grant, his eyes questioning.

Elder Grant also shook his head, indicating that he did not recognize these people either: "I will take them back first. Don't worry, the interrogation methods of our Zhenbing tribe are no weaker than those of your Snowfield Guardians."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

"No problem, just wait at home for my good news. If all goes well, you might be able to meet your Holy Maiden tomorrow," Elder Grant said with a smile.

"I hope so." Loich took a deep breath, his tension still not completely released.

At the place Catherine provided, God was waiting for Loich to return.

To be honest, he didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Snowfield Guardians sect at all, and he was even unwilling to get involved in the matter of the Golden Wheat Seedlings.

Gao De is not an evil person, but he is also not a meddlesome person.

His original intention in coming to the North was always to plant trees.

But he had no choice but to get involved in this matter.

Because of his connection with Baruch, given his current situation, there is a high probability that he will be targeted for elimination by the mastermind behind the scenes, who is a high-ranking member of the Snowfield Guardians.

Once the mastermind has dealt with Catherine and Loich, he will undoubtedly be the next target.

Therefore, even if Gaode doesn't want to get involved, it has to contribute.

He was also very clear about the importance of Loych's operation tonight.

However, his strength was relatively low, so he was not suitable to participate in the night's operation and could not contribute at all. He could only wait here for Loich to return.

Fortunately, it didn't get too late; there was some noise coming from the doorway.

Then footsteps, accompanied by Loich's voice, burst in.

"I'm back."

Loich pushed open the door, sat down at the table, took a sip of water, and said, "All the people have been captured and taken away by Elder Grant."

Gao De breathed a slight sigh of relief. At least with Flora, Elder Grant didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him, so from that perspective, he should be considered a trustworthy person.

"Thanks to you this time, whether it was helping to discover and solve the pest problem of Jinhui wheat seedlings or finding the key clues," Loich hesitated for a moment before solemnly expressing his gratitude to Gao De.

Their relationship was somewhat strange. Judging from their usual way of getting along, they seemed like friends, but both of them knew that it was actually a coercive relationship, yet there didn't seem to be much hatred between them.

After this incident, the already strange relationship became even stranger.

Given Roych's level of education, he couldn't think of a suitable adjective; perhaps something closer to "becoming friends after a fight" would suffice?

In short, in Loich's mind, he could no longer treat God as he had before, otherwise his conscience would not be at peace.

So, after thinking for a moment, he suddenly reached out and began to grope and explore Gao De's body.

As Loich's hand moved, a chill, like a snake, coursed through Gao De's skin.

Then, Gao De felt as if something inside his body was being pulled out, like peeling away layers of an onion.

Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the forbidden ice needle that Loich had previously inserted into his body!

"It's best if you don't leave Phoenix easily during this time, and even better, don't leave my side." Loich carefully put away the five forbidden ice needles, then gave a reminder:

"Although we arrested a group of people last night, there is a high possibility that there are still their people in the city. You are only a first-ring mage. If they target you, it would be too easy for them to kill you. Stay by my side, and at least I can take care of you."

Gaode stretched his muscles and felt a sense of freedom.

Although he had long since become immune to the five forbidden ice needles, he still felt much more at ease after they were actually removed from his body.

"I understand," he replied, showing no sign of being ungrateful.

(End of this chapter)