The midday sun hung overhead, casting a pale, warmthless light.
The hostage exchange between the Empire and the Court of Destruction was set at Black Pine Hollow, a clearing between two rocky hills. The area was blanketed in snow, with hardy thorns stubbornly growing amidst it, making the place appear exceptionally desolate.
The agreed-upon time for the exchange arrived.
The cultists were the first to appear. Crow Man strode at the forefront, followed closely by several dozen figures draped in white robes.
Seven students were in the center of the cultist formation, their hands bound behind their backs, cloth gags in their mouths, shivering in the winter wind. Leo stood in the middle, his complexion pale, while Lina’s eyes remained hollow and numb.
Crow Man waited patiently, arms crossed.
Soon, the Empire’s representatives appeared atop the distant rocky hill.
Dean Duncan stood in the center, wearing his blue dean’s robes. The leader of the Silent Purifiers stood to one side, holding a magic staff in one hand and a thick tome of Holy Light scripture in the other. The commander of the Night Owl Battalion stood on the other side, posture ramrod straight, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist.
Beside them were two prisoners wearing heavy rune shackles, restrained by an invisible magical field, stumbling as they walked.
The Thirteenth Seat of the Court of Destruction, codename “Dark Blade,” and the Fourteenth Seat, codename “Murmur.”
Both looked as if they had been imprisoned for a long time, disheveled and filthy, with terrifying scars visible on their exposed skin, yet an unextinguished light still flickered in the depths of their eyes.
The two sides stopped at the center of Black Pine Hollow, roughly fifty paces apart.
“We’ve brought them,” Dean Duncan said, looking directly at Crow Man’s eyes hidden behind his mask, his voice carried by a spell.
“We need to verify them first, to ensure you haven’t sent puppets or some other substitute,” Crow Man’s voice was hoarse.
“Agreed,” Dean Duncan said coldly, waving his staff. Dark Blade and Murmur stumbled forward a step, their bodies moving forward slightly against their will.
Behind Crow Man, a cultist pulled a gray compass from beneath his white robe, pointing the needle toward the two prisoners not far away. After a few seconds, he nodded and whispered into Crow Man’s ear:
“The marks are correct. They’re genuine.”
Crow Man let out a low chuckle.
“It seems you didn’t play any tricks with the hostages.”
Dean Duncan also demanded identity verification for the seven students. After the verification process, the exchange finally moved to the main event.
“We release them simultaneously,” Duncan said gravely. “Your people walk back, our students walk toward us. Each side retrieves their own.”
Crow Man said nothing, simply waving a hand in agreement.
The cultists behind him gave the students a forceful shove, and the seven began stumbling toward the middle. On the other side, Dean Duncan dispelled the magical field binding the two prisoners, and they began walking toward the cultist side.
Now, the hollow held only the howling wind and the crunch of footsteps on snow.
Forty paces, thirty paces, twenty paces…
The two groups of captives gradually drew closer, then quickly passed each other. Soon, Oliven, walking at the front, was less than five paces from the Night Owl commander, a relieved smile spreading across his face.
‘Finally, we’re back!’
And at that very moment, a sudden change occurred.
Dean Duncan swept his staff violently. In an instant, a massive spell barrier coalesced, standing like a city wall between the two sides, protecting the students on their side.
“Now!”
The amplified, aged voice rumbled like thunder across the hollow. Immediately after, densely packed figures in armor or mage robes emerged from behind the surrounding woods, encircling the area from all directions.
On several distant high points, pre-set restraining fields activated one after another. Gryphon squads and Imperial Guard Dragon Riders rapidly ascended into the air.
Further out were even more numerous mage formations and cavalry ready for rapid response. Siege ballistae had long been set up on high ground, their camouflage now stripped away, their massive bolts aimed at the cultist position.
Last night, Mirror Lake Manor had requested additional aid from the Imperial Palace. In a single night, they had completed this encirclement, waiting for the cultists to willingly walk into the trap at noon today, catching the turtle in the jar.
A tidal wave of Imperial troops surged forward. The mana fluctuations in the air suddenly intensified, boiling. Countless spell lights ignited from all sides, like the lights of a city at night…
The Empire’s ambush was launched at the very last moment before the exchange was complete.
Yet, Crow Man seemed utterly unsurprised. The cultists behind him merely quickly formed a protective circle around their two returning brethren, preparing to cast a joint defensive spell, showing little panic.
“Too late, Dean Duncan! I suggest you take a look at this…”
His voice echoed over the hollow, possessing a strange power that instantly drowned out all other noise. The charging Imperial troops’ footsteps collectively faltered.
Then Crow Man raised the bone staff in his hand high. The red crystal at its tip blazed brilliantly, swiftly sketching a clear, colossal, colored image in the air—
The image showed intricate, winding pipes and runes, the shimmering mana currents within indicating they were active.
Yet, amidst these lines, several sinister, glowing crimson crystals were embedded at several key junctures, pulsing slowly like hearts, appearing exceptionally eerie.
“What is this?” A sense of foreboding suddenly gripped Dean Duncan.
“Hah… It’s the underground magic array of the Royal Academy of Magic, of course, Dean!” Crow Man laughed uproariously, snapping his fingers as he did.
The image shifted, switching to a ground-level view.
This seemed to be a warehouse within the Academy. At the moment, there wasn’t a soul around, as quiet as any normal day.
The next second, a fireball suddenly shot skyward, blasting the warehouse to pieces. Shattered bricks and wood flew in all directions, a deep crimson inferno roaring to life from the ruins.
“That was just an old, empty warehouse!”
Crow Man doubled over with laughter, the explosion seemingly making him particularly excited.
“Where will the next one explode? The main mana pool number three? Or the backup line connecting to the Imperial Palace? How many students in classrooms, dorms, or the library will join the fireworks? Take a guess!”
Dean Duncan’s face instantly turned ashen. He had no choice but to signal the encircling Imperial troops to halt temporarily.
On a distant small hill, Villanelle, holding Ignis, and Emily lay behind a rock, watching nervously.
They had been permitted to observe the exchange from within the safe zone, but they hadn’t expected yesterday afternoon’s speculation to actually come true, and the situation was far more severe than imagined.
There was no doubt. That cultist leader was threatening the lives of the Royal Academy’s teachers and students to force Dean Duncan to let them go.
And the Dean had no choice.
“Drop your weapons now! Disperse all ambushes and spell formations! Retreat five miles!” Crow Man’s laughter gradually turned maniacal. “Five, four, three…”
Almost everyone’s gaze turned to Dean Duncan. Everyone was waiting for the old man to make a decision.
The old Dean’s lips pressed into a thin line. His fingers clenched tightly within his sleeves, knuckles white.
He looked at the still-pulsing image in the air, at those crimson crystals embedded in the Academy’s lifelines, throbbing slowly, and at the ominous light shimmering upon them.
“Two…” Crow Man’s countdown continued.
The Night Owl commander looked at him, his eyes asking: ‘What do we do?’
Duncan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his eyes held only a near-desperate rationality. Then he raised his hand and made a “withdraw” gesture.
“Lift the blockade. Let them go.”
The order spread instantly via magical communication. Around the hollow, the Imperial elites, both visible and still hidden, retreated like a receding tide, disappearing back into the forest.
The magical fluctuations in the air rapidly dissipated.
Crow Man seemed unsurprised. He waved a hand, and the cultists quickly moved forward to remove the shackles from their two comrades.
“Excellent. It seems you’ve made the correct choice,” Crow Man said, his laughter ceasing, voice rasping. “Though the Dean is advanced in years, please remember this lesson well.”
‘Damn it, spending too much time with “Smiler” has made me love laughing too.’
He put away his short staff, and the massive projected image in the air vanished. The cultist formation began an orderly retreat behind the northern rocky hill, their movements swift and without hesitation.
“We will be watching you,” Duncan’s voice was squeezed through gritted teeth. “The moment you dare show yourselves under the Empire’s gaze again…”
“You’d better first make sure all those little gifts under the Academy have been cleaned up!” The rearguard Crow Man paused for a moment, tossed back this remark, then disappeared into the shadow of the rocky hill without looking back.
In mere moments, Black Pine Hollow held only the Empire’s people, along with footprints in the snow and the lingering magical resonance. The cold wind still blew, but the sunlight seemed even colder.
In the distance, Villanelle, watching from behind the rock, felt her hands and feet turn to ice. She watched the Imperial elites withdraw unwillingly, Dean Duncan’s rigid, solitary figure standing in place, and the direction where the cultists had vanished.
Beside her, Emily murmured to herself, voice trembling. “They… they really planted something under the Academy… those red crystals… they match the disturbance frequency I detected…”
Villanelle didn’t speak. She just held Ignis tighter, her other hand unconsciously reaching into her bosom, touching the rough Shaman’s Wolf Fang.
Its cold touch and magical effect sobered her slightly.
Perhaps… her third Imperial brother was right.