The Blood Witch

Irene tugged Angel toward Moro. Angel felt a little embarrassed about approaching, but seeing no rejection in Moro's eyes, he slowly stepped forward.

"Grandpa, Brother, you're here too!" Irene cried affectionately as she threw herself into Moro's arms.

Moro laughed and teased Irene for a while before saying, "In a bit, Lady Meline will channel magic power into the Nightmare Stone. You'd better stand farther away."

The three little ones nodded and retreated a long distance with Moro.

At this moment, Lady Meline, dressed in a sumptuous and dazzling gown, walked gracefully to the bow. Under everyone's watchful gaze, she used either spiritual power or witchcraft to slowly levitate the bow's statue into the air before lowering it gently before her.

The Bauhinia's bow statue was a young girl in gauzy robes, her hands pressed together in prayer.

When Angel had first seen it, he had paid it some attention. He had noticed that the gemstone set in the center of the statue girl's forehead seemed to carry a mysterious air. Angel was not yet a transcendent, however, and had only vaguely sensed it.

Now, Lady Meline's grand spellcasting finally confirmed Angel's earlier suspicions.

The pale crimson gemstone on the praying girl's forehead truly was a transcendent item. Moreover, it was an extraordinarily precious natural Magic Crystal known as the Nightmare Stone.

As Lady Meline cast her spell to control the Nightmare Stone, Moro also began explaining its function to the three children.

The Nightmare Stone's exact place of origin was unknown, but it seemed to be connected to the legendary other planes. Its yield was exceedingly scarce. Without requiring any magic patterns to be inscribed upon it, it could create illusions, making it a supreme treasure among mysterious-side illusion arts. Its value was therefore beyond estimation.

Even an ordinary Nightmare Stone, no larger than a grain of sand, could create an illusion spanning dozens of meters. The Nightmare Stone on the praying girl statue was as large as a baby's fist. Creating an illusion that covered an area a li in radius would be no problem at all.

As beads of sweat rolled down Lady Meline's forehead, ripples like water spread out and enveloped the entire Bauhinia. Only then did she let out a long breath, waving her slightly weary hands to return the statue to its original place.

"The Mirror Spell has been set. So long as we don't actively attack the Cloud Whale, it won't make a special effort to see through the illusion. Don't worry." Lady Meline's steps were noticeably more unsteady when she returned, showing just how terrifying the magic power needed to activate the Nightmare Stone was.

"Go do what you need to do. Just as you said, Cloud Whales have gentle temperaments and little desire for destruction. With the Mirror Spell guarding us as well, there should be no problem." Lady Meline waved at the knight first mate, dismissing him.

By the time Lady Meline returned to the raised platform, the first mate had already begun directing the sailors to disperse the onlookers. Before long, more than half the deck had emptied, and most of the gifted had returned to their rooms.

Kormoen, from Gravity Forest, gazed fervently at the Cloud Whale in the sky. After a long while, he said, "A Cloud Whale can control oceanic energy, and it can use the air sacs in its chest to exchange air with the outside world and soar through the skies. On the sea, it is one of the finest mounts. If only I could..."

Kormoen left his words unfinished, but his covetousness toward the Cloud Whale was plain for all to see.

Neither Lady Meline nor Florent responded. A Cloud Whale possessed strength at least on the level of a Formal Wizard. They were merely insignificant Wizard Apprentices; rather than worry about such things, they might as well return and meditate a little longer.

"Eh?! Look! Something's falling from the sky!" Several sailors on the deck suddenly cried out.

The successive cries of alarm made everyone still on the deck raise their heads to look.

High in the sky, nearly a thousand meters above, a crimson speck slowly drifted downward. Like a falling feather, it swayed with the wind, yet no matter how it moved, it only spun in circles and never drifted away.

And that crimson speck had a clear landing spot—

It was definitely the Bauhinia!

Because it was too far away, Angel and the others could not make out what was falling. But the four Wizard Apprentices present all used long-distance viewing spells, their eyes gleaming with lights of different colors.

"It's a person!" Kormoen cried.

"A woman in red." Moro spoke. Compared to Kormoen's observation, Moro's was more detailed; he directly identified the newcomer's gender.

"An umbrella?" After hesitating for a long time, Lady Meline softly uttered a single word.

But that single word showed that her attainments truly surpassed Moro's and Kormoen's. The woman was falling through the air like a feather because of an exquisitely ornate umbrella.

Florent was the last to speak. His expression was grave, and his gray hair and gray beard suddenly rose into the air as though gravity had reversed. Though he had the kindly appearance of old age, he now carried a few traces of sternness. Yet upon close inspection, one could see a faint terror in Florent's eyes...

"It's Flora." Florent's voice trembled slightly.

"Flora? Which Flora?" Kormoen was clearly confused.

At that moment, Lady Meline seemed to realize something. Her pupils abruptly contracted as she pointed a trembling finger at the red speck in the sky. "You mean Flora, the Blood Witch?"

Florent nodded slowly and solemnly.

At that moment, everyone fell silent.

Infected by the strange atmosphere, the three children became as silent as cicadas in winter. Seeing the shock on every Wizard Apprentice's face, Angel knew the newcomer must have an extraordinary background.

Angel had already witnessed the cruelty of the Wizarding World. Afraid that the newcomer might attack them at the slightest disagreement, he pulled Irene and Alan farther and farther back. In the end, the three of them pressed themselves against the door between the deck and the lookout tower.

After recovering from his initial shock, Moro swiftly glanced back at the three of them. He walked to the lookout tower, opened the door, and let them inside.

"Hide in there, and be careful not to speak. The newcomer is a Formal Wizard. Though she is a Black Wizard, Formal Wizards generally do not care about the lives or deaths of mortals. As long as you don't appear before her, she won't pay attention to you." Moro solemnly warned the three children, then closed the lookout tower door with a miserable expression.

Moro stood uneasily beside Florent. What he had told the three children was true: Formal Wizards would not ordinarily take the initiative to kill mortals. It was not because they were kindhearted, but because mortals stood too far below them. The circles of wizards and mortals differed as greatly as heaven and earth—would humans ever associate with cockroaches? Even Wizard Apprentices like them were little different from mortals in the eyes of Formal Wizards. But there was no helping it. They were, after all, the strongest fighting force aboard the ship. If they did not face the Formal Wizard, were they supposed to let mortals do it?

Especially since the newcomer... was Flora! Flora, whose bloody name eclipsed the entire Southern Region! Moro could even feel his legs beginning to tremble.

"Lady Flora is on this Cloud Whale. That means this Cloud Whale is very likely the mount of 'that one'..." Even Lady Meline had no choice but to use an honorific before a Formal Wizard, despite knowing that Flora was far younger than she was.

Everyone used the Eagle Eye Spell and looked toward the Cloud Whale again. Sure enough, they discovered something unusual. In the higher sky near the Cloud Whale's back, flocks of Falcon Demons circled and flew.

—Falcon Demons were originally Polar Region hawks. After being refined by wizards into substitute scouts, they became Falcon Demons.

Falcon Demons could not survive upon the ocean and had to land every day to replenish themselves. Where on the open sea could terrestrial birds of prey find supplies? Clearly, someone was raising them. And judging from where the Falcon Demons circled, the place where they landed each day to replenish themselves had to be on the Cloud Whale's back.

Falcon Demons were also 'that one's' most beloved magical pets. Thinking of this, everyone exchanged glances, each face bearing a trace of inexpressible fear.

"If 'that one' bears hostility toward the Bauhinia, I fear even Lord Sabo would find it difficult to resist." Kormoen had once coveted the Cloud Whale, but now he had completely abandoned that thought. He did not even dare let the notion rise in his mind.