Midnight, within the town of Harbor, people who had been peacefully asleep were abruptly awakened by the fierce blaze and the cacophonous cawing of crows.
"Fire... it's on fire!" "Help, someone save me!"
After more than a decade of peace, the residents of Harbor Town, suddenly under attack, descended into chaos. The streets were filled with panic, and screams echoed in every corner of the town.
At this moment, Lynn stood on the rooftop of a small house, her eyes scanning the direction where the flames raged. This was the magic at work—a spell known as "Tik's Farsight," granting a wizard the precision of a griffon's keen eyesight in a short span.
During the days Lynn had spent in Harbor Town, aside from gathering intelligence and concocting black powder, she hadn't neglected her magical studies. She had thoroughly devoured the book "Foundations of Universal Magic" she had brought along.
"Is it Jonny and Dove?" Lynn muttered to herself as she gazed at the flocks of gray crows in the distance and the figures dancing in the firelight.
Had they managed to escape ahead of time?
Wait...
Lynn soon noticed something amiss. The two witch's states didn't seem like they had suffered torture. Perhaps... they hadn't fled but were preparing to infiltrate Harbor Town's prison to rescue someone!
This possibility immediately crossed Lynn's mind, causing her to furrow her brows.
Before tonight's operation, he had considered dozens of unexpected scenarios and even foreseen that the Church might set traps within Harbor Town, waiting for him to fall into them.
But he hadn't anticipated Archbishop Anluke to boldly broadcast their actions without capturing anyone first.
The archbishop was undoubtedly taking a risk, betting that these few wizard apprentices couldn't find each other. Otherwise, the public witch hunt ceremony scheduled for tomorrow would be a complete farce.
In a world where true gods existed, a public witch hunt ceremony, if faked with a few prisoners posing as witches, was nothing short of blasphemy.
Evidently, Archbishop Anluke had guessed correctly. While Lynn had managed to avoid the trap, Jonny and Dove had unwittingly walked into it.
However, if the two witches weren't captured, then who had leaked information about the Ship Gang?
Archbishop Anluke's personal presence in Harbor Town, enforcing the port closure and taking action against the Ship Gang, couldn't be faked. This was one of the reasons he believed that these two might be arrested.
Deep in thought, the cawing of crows in the sky above Harbor Town grew weaker. This signified that Jonny and Dove were close to exhaustion.
Lynn didn't rush into action because there were only a few hundred guards surrounding the two witches. Archbishop Anluke and his three thousand elite guards hadn't entered the scene.
This, too, was a bait, and Lynn was the big fish that Archbishop Anluke wanted to catch...
"071, in our current state, what are our chances if we confront them head-on?" Lynn silently asked in his mind.
His greatest trump card was the massive stockpile of black powder he had hidden at the docks. By exploiting the information gap and the convenience of magic shaping, he could lure Anluke and the others there and blow them to the heavens. But now, it seemed like achieving that goal would be incredibly difficult.
"Estimated win rate falls below the safety threshold. As per the agreement, extraterrestrials should not be considered protected targets. According to the 'Federal Citizen Life Safety Act,' your priority should be self-preservation."
Lynn fell silent for a moment and then asked, "So, do you know why Jonny and Dove are risking their lives to enter Harbor Town?"
"Ninety-seven percent likelihood... they've come to rescue you, sir."
"So, you knew, 071?" Lynn gazed at the distant flames, speaking to himself in his mind. "Sometimes, extraterrestrials are human too..."
Meanwhile, inside the church of Harbor Town, Archbishop Anluke was lost in thought as he gazed at the chaos in the town.
The distant screams and cries made the attending priests turn pale, but Anluke appeared oblivious, turning to his side to address Aydan.
"How have the interrogations been progressing these last few days?" he asked.
"Reporting, Your Grace, there seems to be a powerful psychic magic placed in Hawk's brain. I've tried several methods but couldn't break through that barrier," Aydan explained apologetically.
A few days ago, while Archbishop Anluke led the elite guards to chase the devilish cultists, Aydan and his team had launched an assault on Urtown. Following the information they had received from Will, they had gone to the Drunkard's Tavern to capture the old Hawk, who had not managed to escape yet.
However, what disappointed Aydan was that there was some kind of psychic magic protecting Hawk's mind. When he tried to extract information using divine arts, he almost turned the man into a simpleton.
The only thing they had gained was some information about Harbor Town, found in a secret room in the Drunkard's Tavern.
"No matter, we'll soon have a new source of information," Anluke said casually, showing no intention of blaming Aydan.
"Your Grace, should we consider increasing our forces? If we continue like this, those two wizard apprentices might escape our control," Aydan cautiously asked as he looked at the commotion to the west of Harbor Town.
Due to someone's move to ignite the town's granaries, most of the stationed guards had been dispatched to put out the fire, leaving only two priests and three hundred guards in charge of the pursuit.
Continuing like this might endanger more and more civilians...
Aydan swallowed the latter part of his sentence silently. He had always disagreed with Archbishop Anluke's decision to set the battlefield within Harbor Town. This only put the defenseless townsfolk in danger.
"Now is not the time to act, Aydan!" Anluke's weathered face took on a hint of severity as he gazed at the priest before him, speaking again. "Momentary mercy will only lead to more terrible disasters."
"The hellfire that burns outside Urtown has yet to be extinguished. If we can't capture the wizard named Karl this time, the terrifying scenes may replay in every corner of the Nordanian territories."
"Merciful Lord will forgive our mistakes..."
Anluke looked back at the flames over Harbor Town, chanting with a raspy voice.
"May their souls return to the sacred land, receiving eternal protection. May their spirits not fall into the abyss of the devil..."
The priests in the church also showed a compassionate expression and soon joined in singing a melodious hymn, wishing that the townspeople who died in this conflict, suffering boundless hardships in life, would find new life in the Lord's sacred ground...
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