My physics masters couldn't possibly be grand mages.

Char wouldn't stay here alone to confront this witch.

He was teleported back to that underground space almost instantly.

Time resumed its flow.

When Victor came to his senses, Cindy had already disappeared from the spot.

In that instant, his pupils suddenly contracted to a single point, and a bone-chilling cold rushed from his tailbone straight to his forehead.

Viktor turned his head slightly stiffly and saw Einstein slowly lower his hand, and the light spot disappeared.

Einstein's expression remained unchanged, as if everything that had just happened was merely an interlude in his life.

But he had just finished off Cindy in a mere instant.

Char's feelings were completely different from Viktor's; the events that had just occurred were still replaying in his mind.

Although he was also a participant in the whole plan, the situation changed several times in just a few minutes, making him feel like he was dreaming.

Einstein probably already suspected that Cindy was acting strangely even before she killed Aldrich.

As Einstein said, it couldn't be because she was kind-hearted.

After that, he meticulously unraveled the mystery step by step.

Pointing out two possibilities—either a "liar" or someone "better than you"—plants a psychological anchor.

Then point out the cracks in her fingers, analyze her psychology, and make her feel uncomfortable as if she were "seen through".

By gradually applying pressure, she became wary.

Call Char over to take the pipe, and let Char naturally move within a meter or two.

Finally, relying on Char's time-traveling cheat, she was taken to 2072, temporarily resolving her current troubles.

Cindy wasn't stupid, but unfortunately, she was up against Albert Einstein.

Char glanced at the somewhat distraught Viktor out of the corner of his eye.

This guy's reminder actually helped them.

If he hadn't spoken, people might not have believed Einstein if he wanted to say that he was a sixth-order physicist.

"Click—"

The sound of footsteps crunching on gravel came from one side.

A group of proctors, like police officers at the end of a movie, arrived late and swarmed into the underground space, including Meredith.

"Aldridge!" Byrne looked at Aldridge lying on the ground, squatted down, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"He's fine, just leave him to Khomeini," Meredith said after glancing at him.

He turned his head to look into the depths of the space, and when he saw the huge "door", his expression suddenly became serious.

Meredith glanced around, looking at Aldrich, who was panting on the ground, and at Victor, Einstein, Char, and the others not far away.

He slowly raised his scepter and gently tapped the ground with it.

"Thump~"

A magical power slowly spread outwards.

A strange magic circle appeared beneath Char, Sylvia, Victor, and Aldrich.

As the light shone, they vanished from this space.

"You all go back first, I'll handle things here," Meredith said to the other proctors following behind her.

"Yes." The magicians didn't suspect anything. A few glanced back at the door, but quickly retreated.

Meredith took a few steps forward and came to stand in front of Einstein and Tesla.

He looked at the broken chains on the ground, the stones that Cindy had dropped when she broke the seal, and the lingering magical aura of Cindy in the air, a scent unique to witches.

Meredith understood what had happened almost instantly.

"And her?" Meredith asked.

"Exiled," Einstein said.

"Exile?" Meredith frowned slightly.

It sounds like some kind of spatial magic.

"Where were they exiled to?"

"Another world." Einstein knew the more he said, the more mistakes he would make, so he simply said, "She will never come back..."

He did not continue the topic.

"From now on, you can clean up the mess yourself. That should be fine, right?"

Meredith stared at him as if he were looking at an unsolved mystery.

He looked away, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"……good."

"Send us back," Einstein said. After seeing Cindy off, he felt much more confident.

He wasn't even worried that others might doubt him because he didn't know spatial magic.

He believed that someone must have witnessed this spectacular "performance," and he also believed that after today, no one would question him anymore...

Meredith didn't say much, but simply raised his scepter and tapped the ground lightly once more. A magic circle appeared beneath Einstein and Tesla, and they vanished from the spot.

For a moment, he was the only one left in the entire space.

He silently leaned on his scepter and walked to the door, slightly raising his head to gaze at the statue with its head bowed.

He looked at the faint red light emanating from the crack in the door, his expression slightly grave.

"Click~"

A few cracks appeared in the space beside Meredith, and then the cracks gradually spread outwards.

Then--

"Bang!"

The space shattered, revealing a burly figure inside.

It was the mysterious old man that Char, Einstein, and the others saw that night after they came out of the library—Monra.

Meredith, however, did not seem surprised and continued to stare at the door.

"Although we had some guesses, seeing this door in person still evokes a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, including nostalgia and awe)," Meredith murmured softly. "Just how powerful must the Magic King have been to seal these things away all by himself?"

"No matter how strong he was, he couldn't have imagined the greed and madness of future generations."

Monra raised his hand and pointed to the broken corner. "The seal has already been broken once. Just as we suspected, the ancestor of the Vilvia family should be Vilvia Saloyan, who served under the Magic King."

"The first name has become the surname..." Meredith murmured softly, "So they know this location, and they also know how to open the seal."

He looked at the chains and stones lying on the ground. "They used this door to create this witch?"

Monla nodded.

"Luckily you noticed early," Meredith said thankfully. "If they had succeeded, how many people would have died?"

"It's already too late..." Monra turned to look at the skeletons bearing the Vilvia emblem. "These people, and those miners who were once human but became ghouls, are essentially victims of this tragic ritual."

"The door has been opened once, and no one knows if the seal will become weaker, after all... this is a power that none of us have ever encountered."

"That's something we'll have to ask those skilled in sealing to take a look at," Meredith said, then asked with some curiosity, "By the way, how did you know there was a problem here?"

"I want to advise the Vervia family to remain silent about this war. It's not good for them, who are already in a weak position."

After a pause, Monla continued, "But they have a source of confidence that surprised me. March died a few years after returning from here, so it's not hard to guess. What could possibly require a magic-sealing barrier to contain it?"

"Machi's sealing ability is indeed strong," Meredith said in a low voice. "We've been searching this place for over ten days, but we haven't found anything."

He looked at Monla, "But you're still the smartest. By setting the exam location here, you not only took advantage of the fact that the Vivier family found this place, but also managed to probe Einstein's background and solve this problem."

"A test?"

Monra repeated the word, then gave a wry smile.

"Of the entire plan... only one succeeded."

Meredith was taken aback. "What did you just see?"

"He used a first-order spell to send a witch away from this world."

"First tier?" Meredith's brow furrowed even deeper. "Are you sure?"

"I'm right here," Monra said in a low voice. "First-tier magic, first-tier runes, there's no mistake."

He looked at Meredith, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Their 'battle'... well, let's just call it a battle, it didn't even last three minutes. I didn't even have time to react before the witch disappeared."

His voice was deep, "Meredis. The Tower of Truth... has a remarkable person arrived..."