Poe Derian's deep voice fell on everyone's ears, and every word contained an unsettling chill. The Sky Dome cracks made of seawater above the head became more and more dense, and the cold water poured down from the cracks, making everyone's hearts gradually become anxious.
In this oppressive silence, the calm and indifferent voice of Victoria sounded.
"Master Derien, I only have one question." She was not affected by the urgency of the impending doom. Her clear golden eyes looked at the old magician calmly, "What will happen to the person who is the 'key'?"
A strange, mocking yet cruel smile appeared on Poe Derian's face. His cloudy eyes turned to the young mage Philip, whose face was pale with fear, and his voice was calm as if he was stating an ordinary fact.
"He will die."
"Using his body as a temporary container to carry and guide my remaining power to activate the ancient Teleportation Array. This process, for him, is like trying to use fragile clay water pipes to convey the surging river. River." Poe Derian's voice contained no emotion, "His body and soul will be torn apart and evaporated in an instant by the overwhelming force, but not even a trace of ashes will be left behind. But in return, all of you will survive."
As soon as he finished speaking, Edgar's figure stood in front of Philip like an iron tower. His face, which had always been hidden under the shadow of the hat brim, lifted up for the first time, revealing a pair of resolute eyes burning with anger.
"I absolutely agree." His voice was low and decisive, and every word was ringing. "Members of the Kingdom Investigation Bureau will never become victims of others trying to survive. This is the principle and the bottom line."
"That's right." Moria also took a step forward. His light eyes were as gentle and calm as ever, as if he was not facing a Archmage but something else. "We cannot deprive another innocent person of his life for the sake of our own survival. This goes against the teachings of Radiance and our conscience as human beings."
The atmosphere in the square instantly became tense.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you guys out of your mind?" An inappropriate voice suddenly broke the confrontation. Spade K poked his head out from behind the stone pillar, with an expression on his face like he was looking at a fool, "Is this the time to talk about principles? It's better if one of you dies than everyone else dies here, right? It's just an NPC anyway. If you die, you'll die. What's the big deal?"
His cold and utilitarian remarks, belonging to a player, made Edgar's face darken. Philip was so angry that he was shaking all over. Although he was scared, he mustered up the courage to shout, "I, I am not an NPC!"
"Who cares?" Spade K waved his hand impatiently, "Old man, leave them alone, I'll help you catch him. As long as you can take me out of this hellish place, you can say anything. I don't want to lose my level for this kind of thing."
Just when this chaotic dispute was about to turn into an internal fight, Victoria suddenly chuckled. The laughter was clear and sweet, but it made everyone feel an inexplicable chill.
"Everyone, I think now is not the time to argue about who deserves to die." She slowly walked out of Investigation Squad's protective circle, looked past everyone, and landed calmly on Poe Derian. "Before discussing how to leave here, we should probably solve a more fundamental problem first."
She paused slightly and said in a tone that stated the facts without any doubt, "Kourt, he is not dead yet. For the sake of the kingdom, I hope Master Derien can take action to kill Kourt completely to avoid future troubles, so that we can leave this place."
This sentence made everyone in the square stunned.
Poe Drian's ancient and calm face finally showed a trace of obvious emotional fluctuations, and a hint of evil and displeasure flashed in his cloudy eyes.
"Are you suspecting that I'm lying?" His voice suddenly turned cold, and the air around him seemed to have dropped a bit.
"I'm not doubting Master Derien." The smile on Victoria's face remained unchanged, and his posture remained calm, as if he was not facing an ancient magician who was moody and whose power was unfathomable. "I was just stating a conjecture based on facts. After all, Kourt is a transcendent being of Path of the Death Soul. The life form of this kind of existence has long been beyond the understanding of ordinary people. Even if the body is destroyed and the soul is burned, there is a possibility of resurrection as long as there is a slight backup. I think the master knows this better than me."
She paused to give everyone time to digest the information, and then changed the subject.
"What's more, his rank is 'Soul Lord'."
Victoria's voice resounded clearly in the square, "Everyone must not know what this means. But since it will be named a 'lord', it will naturally have a 'territory'. And within its own territory, a lord can never be killed. This is a rule-level power. Kourt is a foreigner, and his homeland is Gaeum, the land of ice and snow in the north. As far as I know, the people of Gaeum have an ancient tradition. Before leaving home, they will put a handful of soil from their hometown in a special bag and carry it with them to pray for a safe return in the future."
Her eyes became sharp, as if she could penetrate the mists of time and see the unknown secrets of the incident a hundred years ago.
"No one can be sure whether Kourt will abide by this tradition. But as long as he abides by it, then, at the moment he foresees the danger coming, he only needs to scatter the soil of his hometown under his feet, then under his feet This land has become his territory at the level of rules. In this way, even a world-destroying Forbidden Magic like 'Skyfall' cannot completely kill it."
As Victoria narrated, Poe Derian's face became increasingly gloomy, and his cloudy eyes were filled with complicated and unexplainable emotions, like an impending storm.
In the end, all the gloom turned into a dry, hoarse, night owl-like sneer. He even raised his skinny hands and clapped gently. The applause seemed particularly harsh in the empty square.
"Wonderful, really wonderful." Poe Derian looked at Victoria, with a look of almost admiration in his eyes for the first time, "She is indeed that woman's daughter, as sharp as a cunning fox."
He did not deny it anymore, but confirmed Victoria's conjecture in an almost self-deprecating tone.
"You're right." Poe Drian said calmly, "We ignored this at the beginning and allowed that idiot Kourt to spread the dust from Gaeum on the Lorenteen land. So of course, he turned the entire city into his territory."
"We cannot kill him completely no matter what." There was a coldness in Poe Derian's voice. "Every time he tears his body into pieces and extinguishes his soul, he will arbitrarily take the life of a resident in Loren Ting City at the next moment and resurrect him in place. That is his authority as a 'lord'. In this land, he has the absolute power of life and death. Hundreds of thousands of lives have become his inexhaustible resurrection sacrifices."
Everyone felt a chill when they heard this.
"After paying the price of hundreds of innocent lives, Aiswell finally realized that conventional methods could no longer work. So, he came up with a crazier and more vicious plan." Poe Derrien's eyes swept across the crowd, and finally landed on the piece of sea water Sky Dome that was about to collapse. "Since Kourt cannot be killed, it is better to change the idea and launch Forbidden Magic Skyfall', sink Kourt together with the city that has become his territory into the endless deep sea, and seal it with the power of the deep sea Suppress Kourt, and then use the never-ending wash of sea water to wash and wear away Kourt's Remnant Soul bit by bit until they are completely annihilated.
"It's really a once and for all plan, isn't it? But who would have thought that when that greedy traitor plotted against Kourt, he would also plot against me, his so-called ally."