Blood Witch

Irene tugged Angel closer to Moro. Angel felt a little embarrassed about going over, 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 moment, Lady Meline will channel magic power into the Nightmare Stone. You'd better stand farther away."

The three children nodded and retreated a considerable distance with Moro.

At that moment, Lady Meline, dressed in a resplendent and ornate gown, glided to the bow. Under everyone's gaze, she used either spiritual power or witchcraft to slowly levitate the statue at the ship's prow into the air, then gently lower it before her.

The statue at the bow of the Bauhinia was a young girl in gauzy robes, her hands pressed together in prayer

. Angel had taken note of it when he first saw it. He had sensed that the gemstone embedded in the center of the statue girl's forehead carried a mysterious air. After all, Angel was not yet a transcendent, and had only vaguely noticed it.

Now, with Lady Meline casting such a grand spell, Angel's earlier doubts were finally confirmed.

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

While Lady Meline cast her spell to control the Nightmare Stone, Moro also explained its purpose to the three children.

The Nightmare Stone's exact origin was unknown, though it seemed to be connected to the legendary alien planes. It was exceedingly rare, and without the need to inscribe magic patterns, it could create illusions. It was a supreme treasure among mystical illusion arts, and its value was simply beyond measure.

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 an infant's fist; creating an illusion that covered a radius of one li would be no problem at all.

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

"The Mirror Spell has been set. As long as we don't take the initiative to attack the Cloud Whale, it won't deliberately see through the illusion. Don't worry." Lady Meline's steps were noticeably more unsteady as she returned, showing just how terrifying the amount of magic power needed to activate the Nightmare Stone was.

"Go do what you need to do. Just as you said, Cloud Whales are gentle by nature and have little desire to destroy anything. With the Mirror Spell as protection, there should be no problem." Lady Meline waved a hand at the knight adjutant, dismissing him.

By the time Lady Meline returned to the raised platform, the adjutant 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 of Gravity Forest stared fervently at the Cloud Whale in the sky. After a long while, he said, "Cloud Whales can control ocean energy, and use the air sacs in their chests to exchange air with the outside world, allowing them to soar through the sky. On the sea, they are among the finest mounts. If only I could..."

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

Neither Lady Meline nor Florent responded. The Cloud Whale's strength was at least on the level of a formal wizard. They were merely insignificant wizard apprentices; rather than concern themselves with such matters, they might as well return and meditate a little longer.

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

The startled cries came one after another, making everyone still on the deck unable to resist looking up.

High in the sky, nearly a thousand meters above, a crimson speck slowly descended. Like a falling feather, it swayed with the wind, yet no matter how it moved, it only spun in circles without drifting away.

And the crimson speck's destination was clear—

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 cast long-range observation spells, their eyes glimmering with lights of different colors.

"It's a person!" Kormoen cried out.

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

"An umbrella?" Lady Meline hesitated for a long time before softly uttering a single word

. Yet from that one word alone, it was clear that her attainments truly surpassed Moro's and Kormoen's. The woman descended through the air like a feather because of an exquisite, luxurious umbrella.

Florent was the last to speak. His expression was grave. His gray hair and gray beard suddenly rose into the air against gravity. Though he normally looked kindly and aged, he now carried a touch of severity. Yet if one looked closely, one would find a faint fear hidden in Florent's eyes...

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

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

At that moment, Lady Meline seemed to realize something. Her pupils suddenly contracted as she raised a trembling finger toward 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 also fell silent as cicadas in winter. Seeing the shock on every wizard apprentice's face, Angel knew that the newcomer must have an enormous background.

Angel had already witnessed the cruelty of the wizarding world. Afraid that the newcomer might attack them over a single disagreement, he pulled Irene and Alan steadily backward. In the end, the three of them pressed themselves against the door between the deck and the lookout tower.

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

"You hide in there, and don't speak. The newcomer is a formal wizard. Though she is a black wizard, formal wizards generally do not care about the lives and deaths of mortals. As long as you don't appear before her, she won't care about you." Moro solemnly instructed the three children, then shut the lookout tower door with a bitter expression.

Moro stood uneasily beside Florent. What he had told the three children was true: formal wizards would not actively kill mortals. It was not because they were kind-hearted, but because mortals were too far removed from them. The world of wizards and the world of mortals were as different as heaven and earth—would humans have dealings with stinkbugs? Even wizard apprentices like them were no different from mortals in the eyes of formal wizards. But there was no helping it. They were, after all, the ship's greatest fighting force. If they did not face the formal wizard, were they supposed to send mortals instead?

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

"Lady Flora is on this Cloud Whale, which means this Cloud Whale very likely belongs to that person's mount..." Even Lady Meline had no choice but to use an honorific when facing a formal wizard, though she knew Flora was much younger than herself.

Everyone cast 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 through the air.

—Falcon demons were originally polar flying eagles. After wizards refined them into substitute scouts, they became falcon demons.

Falcon demons could not survive on the ocean and had to land every day for supplies. But where on the open sea could land-dwelling birds of prey find supplies? Clearly, someone was raising them. And judging by 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 person's favorite magical pets. At that thought, everyone exchanged looks, each carrying a trace of unspoken fear.

"If that person 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 utterly abandoned that thought. He did not even dare let the notion arise again.