Zod looked at Priscilla as his vision began to blur.

She was hurriedly beckoning and directing the knights to defend herself. ‘When did this relationship begin?’

As he cast his mind back, they apparently met each other at a Grand Council more than a decade ago. To have known each other from then until now, their relationship was anything but short lived.

Rather than being angry at the fact that he had been betrayed, Zod felt despondent at the fact that he had lost his old friend.

In fact, when he found out that there was a traitor inside, it was Priscilla who first came to mind.

Skull Mask was the Pope of the Holy Kingdom of Artemis. The Holy Kingdom obviously had some connection to the ancient civilization, somehow the name of the Artemis system had lived on through them. Skull Mask likely learned of the Artemis system through his responsibilities as a Pope.

And Priscilla Haicilkite was the Saint of the Artemis Church that survived to this day. It was natural to think of Priscilla through association of the word Artemis.

There was no direct evidence, but circumstances definitely permitted Zod to harbor doubt in his friend.

Nevertheless, he did not dare to admit it. Anxiety rose in the corner of his heart, but he forcefully ignored it.

But it was impossible to ignore and deny any more.

He had to admit that he no longer had a friend who smiled with a gentle smile and referred to him as an old man.

Zod Exarion invoked another spell. The blue mana, too plentiful to all reside within him, was concentrated in front of his staff and began to swirl into the most suitable arrangement for magic.

Its form was circular. A singular massive circle encompassed seven smaller circles within it. Zod Exarion had reached the Eighth-Circle, albeit in an unnatural way. For decades he was celebrated as the only living Seventh-Circle magician, and shortly after sharing that title with Crow Mask, he transcended his limit and reached a level unrecorded by history.

‘This is just a Fegatello Attack.’

It was a chess term. By sacrificing a knight, you could force your opponent to move their king into a disadvantageous position. Against a skilled opponent, having an exposed king meant defeat was certain.

‘Haha… ’

A Fegatello Attack to create Zugzwang.

Zod faintly smiled when he realized that he was constantly thinking of this situation in terms of chess strategy. Now that he had sacrificed his proverbial knight, and outed the enemy king, it was his opponents’ turn. They struggled to respond, because every option they had was disadvantageous: Zugzwang. In chess, you can not pass your turn. Even if it means putting your king in harm’s way, you have to make a move.

‘Now that I think about it, we met over chess.’ Desir Arman.

Come to think of it now, their meeting was bizarre.

After the young student stopped an Outsider attack on the Ellueli branch of the Magic Tower, he had been offered a small fortune as reward. Instead, he turned down several years worth of party funds in exchange for the right to request a chess match with Zod. Intrigued by the absurd proposal, he accepted.

However, Zod did not accept because he was curious who would win the match. The result was already decided, as Zod was undefeated for the several decades he had been playing.

But he was defeated by a young boy he met for the first time.

Desir was able to read Zod’s mind like it was his own, and he thought of Zod’s next move before he even did.

A smile leaked out. The two had bonded over that game, and over time, they had grown accustomed to the supernatural way their matches played out. They were more interested in trying to gauge the other’s actions than they were winning the game.

It was not limited to the realm of chess. It was no exaggeration to say that Desir was the only one who could share ideas with Zod throughout all fields of his expertise, and talk casually with him.

It was a relatively short connection, but he was the only one who understood Zod. ‘Now, I’ve played my final move.’

As soon as he closed his eyes, part of Zod’s swirling mana began to wind around his cane. Soon after, the cane rose into the air and was crushed to dust before scattering.

‘It’s your turn, Desir.’ And.

The magic was completed.

* * *

In a military airfield within the Arunbeth Republic, there were an absurd number of airships assembled. Not just the Republic’s military, but additionally the Magic Tower’s, had all gathered in one place.

Once the signal was given, several hundred engines roared to life. The atmosphere around the airfield vibrated with energy.

“Forward!”

The numerous airships were all being boarded by soldiers.

They were the troops headed for Altea.

Looking down at the scene, Desir bit his lips. ‘We’re taking longer than I thought we would… ’

The enemy had the mysterious ability to neutralize magicians as well as the military might to follow up. To subdue them, they needed knights who could use aura.

It took a considerable amount of time to organize the troops required to face the enemy.

In addition, the destruction of the teleportation gate in Altea made it clear that support would be further delayed as they were forced to use other means of transportation.

As a result, Desir’s face showed signs of nervousness. ‘I want to move by myself but… ’

He could not afford to do so. He thought of the reason that Zod made them evacuate in the first place.

All he could do, unable to use magic, was earnestly pray that the support would not be too late.

It was just then. “It’s dangerous!”

“It could be an enemy attack, everyone ready for impact!”

A cluster of light had suddenly appeared outside the Arunbeth teleportation gate, taking shape of a strange rod.

The body of it was made up of Blankšum, and at the end of it was an object with a blue-colored magic stone embedded in it.

Desir rushed forward the moment he saw it. “Wait! It’s not a dangerous object!”

He picked up the cane, holding back the soldiers who were ready for battle in case of emergency.

It was Zod Exarion’s cane. And the light show that he saw just now was definitely teleportation magic.

Desir could only infer that Zod had sent his cane here with teleportation magic. At the same time, two questions were placed in his head.

Why? And how?

Why would Zod, who was busy fighting the enemy, send his cane elsewhere?

Altea and Arunbeth were neighboring countries, but in terms of distance, their capitals were not that close. No matter how strong Zod was, it was impossible to send something this far with teleportation magic.

Even more so if the enemy had an artifact that limited the movement of mana.

Desir looked at the cane for a moment, and then hurriedly moved somewhere: the place where the The Mirror That Holds Shadows had been stored.

In the rush to evacuate, only a few of the important artifacts had been transferred by high-ranking Magic Tower officials, who stored them in their dimensional pockets.

One of them was The Mirror That Holds Shadows.

Arunbeth had provided a large space for the Magic Tower to recuperate and recover. Within that space was a secure location where The Mirror That Holds Shadows had been placed, along with another artifact.

Desir approached the mirror without hesitation and operated it. ‘If something happened… ’

*Whoong*

At first, the mirror was blank, displaying nothing had happened within Altea.

‘What’s going on? We still don’t know how the mirror works… Is the lack of mana preventing it from gathering information?’

Suddenly, several notifications began to pour in.

[Artifact Choir’s Chorus has been destroyed. Mana flow has been restored.] ‘This is… !’

Desir’s face brightened. Since Choir’s Chorus was the artifact responsible for the petrification of mana, that meant that the enemy had been defeated, or would be defeated soon.

Zod did it.

A magician had overcome their greatest weakness. The Great Sage really knew no bounds! Desir immediately delivered the news to Hephaestus.

This information was very useful. With mana restored, magicians would be safe to return to Altea. Their counter-attack would be vastly more effective with their firepower and utility. Most of all, the fact that he could head there to help Zod made him happy.

[-Magicians, please rejoin the formation.]

[-It’s been too long to regroup now. I’ll organize a second unit.]

[-The Magic Tower magicians are now ready to go to war.]

The members from the Western Kingdoms Union began to regroup, and the tower magicians busied themselves preparing for the battle.

A new event suddenly appeared in the mirror. [The Death of the Great Sage]

[Zod Exarion has died.]

Silence came. The noisy surroundings seemed like a lie.

Nothing could be heard.

Desir read and re-read the letters that had appeared on the mirror. His head turned white and his brain struggled to latch onto a single thought.

He moved his eyes from side to side and read the short sentence over and over again. He read it and read it again.

He re-read it a few dozen times, but the sentence never changed.

It would never change. The Mirror That Held Shadows only conveyed certain information that remained absolute.

A pained guttural groan emanated from within Desir. He realized why Zod sent his cane. At that moment something snapped.

Desir could no longer think rationally. Burning emotions engulfed his whole body, and rage filled his head.

He moved silently towards the airfield, where the airships were waiting.

A minute later, Arunbeth Command received a report of an unauthorized takeoff.