By the time the “shift change” operation in front of the tavern was completed silently, Seraphina and her group had already entered the underground of the tavern.
The passage entrance was hidden behind the wine barrel rack, very narrow, allowing only two people to pass side by side.
The walls were rough rock, and only from a distance could one see a fluorite embedded in the stone wall.
Saint Eustacia and Astraea led the way, Movira brought up the rear, with Seraphina sandwiched in the middle.
The passage was so silent that only the echoes of footsteps could be heard.
However, they hadn’t gone far when Seraphina suddenly felt a wave of powerlessness.
It wasn’t physical, but more like a suppression on the magical side.
“Be careful.”
Movira behind her promptly supported her, steadying her staggering body.
Saint Eustacia’s steps also noticeably slowed.
She said in a low voice, “Did you feel it? A kind of suppression… The flow of magic power in my body has been affected.”
This suppression effect, which seemed targeted only at human magic, had a very weak effect on Movira.
It was like some kind of interference field, but its impact on her was limited.
As the Demon King, her Demon Realm magic was somewhat different from human magic.
She put away her relaxed expression and became serious.
“Yes, the effect is very weak. Like some kind of interference field, but it has limited impact on me.”
Only Movira merely furrowed her brows slightly, her voice still steady.
After all, who would have thought that someone from the Demon Realm would come?
Much less the Demon King herself.
She then turned to look at Astraea.
The latter also nodded and finally spoke up to ask, “What about you yourself?”
As they went deeper, this sense of suppression began to wrap around them layer by layer like a spiderweb, showing no signs of lessening at all!
Seraphina felt it the most clearly.
The little magic power in her body wasn’t much to begin with, and now it felt as if it had been frozen solid.
After all, what she had chosen to learn was human magic.
Just as the passage was about to reach its end and vague sounds of people could be heard from ahead, Saint Eustacia stopped in her tracks.
She leaned against the cold stone wall, her face somewhat pale.
“Something’s wrong… This is a magic array! A large-scale, meticulously arranged, magic-sealing array!”
This caught Saint Eustacia somewhat off guard.
She wasn’t particularly afraid of such things.
However, if it were just her alone, in this situation, covert operations would probably be impossible.
Although her attainments in this area weren’t deep, she also knew how rare this kind of array was.
“A magic array?”
Seraphina exclaimed in a low voice.
“What kind of organization is ‘Rusting Dawn’ exactly, to actually have such an array!”
Her pride did not allow her to retreat!
Saint Eustacia gritted her teeth and glanced around at the others present.
“Then what do we do? Should we still continue?”
“There’s no turning back once the bow is drawn! Since we’ve already reached this point, we must complete the mission! Although this array is troublesome, at most it will limit part of my power. It won’t turn me into a cripple!”
“Then can’t we find and destroy this magic array first?”
Seraphina voiced her idea, but it was immediately rejected by Saint Eustacia.
“No. The others are definitely also affected by this array. Once it’s dismantled, it will inevitably alert the enemy. It will also pass on the message. In a situation where we’re uncertain how many hidden personnel they have in the city, rash action could very well force them into a corner and cause panic.”
Since they had already made up their minds, there was nothing more to say.
The four of them adjusted their positions and continued forward.
At the end of the passage was a wooden door.
Brighter light and clearer sounds of commotion filtered through the door crack.
Saint Eustacia was the first to push open a crack in the door.
The scene behind the door shocked the three people besides Movira.
The view suddenly opened up.
This was absolutely not the scale an ordinary basement should have!
This was a huge space that had been hollowed out, almost like a small underground theater!
The height was several meters, the area was vast, and there was also a crude stone platform, just like a theater stage.
Such a massive project absolutely could not have been completed overnight.
It must have been the result of long-term secret excavation!
Right under the nose of the royal capital, such a place actually existed, and the authorities hadn’t even noticed it at all!
Below, crude long wooden benches were placed, and quite a few people were already seated on them.
Even with magic present.
Saint Eustacia’s heart sank.
She began to seriously doubt what the city guards, or even higher-level officials, were actually doing!
Or perhaps…
But now clearly wasn’t the time to think about that.
They exchanged glances with each other and quickly entered inside, blending into the crowd.
The appearance of these four people didn’t attract much attention.
Because the people present were of all sorts.
There were indeed a few well-dressed people, probably officials within the organization, but more were like them—wearing simple, tattered clothes, using hoods or scarves to cover their faces.
To the others, these were just four people from the lower classes who had some minor strength and had been invited here to make up the numbers.
They found a corner position to sit down and observed the entire venue discreetly.
The people in the venue were conversing in low voices, their gazes occasionally turning toward the empty stone platform.
The waiting time wasn’t long.
Soon, a small door on one side was opened, and several figures walked out, heading straight onto the stone platform.
The leading person was precisely the man who had been wearing the gorgeous coat earlier!
At this moment, he had taken off his hat, revealing a shrewd yet somewhat fanatical, lean face.
It should be him!
The crowd’s gazes instantly locked onto that person.
His eyes swept across the people below the stage.
However, a thorny situation was also laid out before their eyes.
Closely following beside the other party were nine burly guards with fierce gazes.
They had curved blades hanging at their waists, their hands constantly resting on the hilts, vigilantly scanning the area below the stage.
What was even more troublesome was that no one was certain whether, among the people present, there were others who possessed means to immunize against or weaken the array’s influence.
If they were to make a move, the situation might not turn out very ideal.
Just as everyone was staring at that man, Astraea instead shifted her gaze, turning instead to look at the stone walls here…
The man on the stage cleared his throat, and the entire space instantly fell silent.
“Brothers and sisters!” His voice carried a kind of inciting magic power, drawing everyone’s attention toward him! “Welcome here! I know that the recent operation indeed failed, which is unsettling. Therefore, some people have wavered and become afraid!”
His gaze swept across every face below the stage, but it seemed he deliberately skipped over the four people sitting at the very back…
“But I want to tell you, that was nothing more than an ordinary failure. It caused no real harm at all! Please don’t lose heart. We need to solidify our morale. There are still enemies before us obstructing our great and inevitably successful plan! All of this is to cleanse this rotten world, to welcome the true light!”
As soon as his words fell, he suddenly changed the direction of his speech.
“Of course! Where are our enemies?”
Immediately after, dozens of knife-wielding thugs rushed out from a small door on the side, their sights landing on Seraphina and the others.
Saint Eustacia clenched her fists tightly and shouted in a low voice, “The plan has been exposed! Prepare to engage the enemy!”