With the last piece of spoils tainted by the aura of the Triangle Plane discarded, a brief silence fell over the battlefield.
The wizard army and the two Level 7 Wizards stood where they were, staring blankly at the mountain of gains before them, their expressions somewhat dazed and bewildered.
What had originally symbolized victory had now become an ominous heap of garbage. Such a swift plunge from wild elation into terror was an absurd turn of events that even the well-traveled wizards needed time to process.
Only after Dickson confirmed through his fate perception that the cloud of misfortune rapidly descending upon the entire army had dispersed, and that the Fate Lines had returned to stable, even slightly rising positive values, did he truly breathe a sigh of relief.
He immediately used the soul link to quickly relay his discovery and deductions to Oboloth and Melister, who was far away on the Ship Plane.
Although they knew the crisis had originated from those spoils, why exactly that was so, and what the invisible force influencing their minds truly was, remained shrouded in fog.
Before the unknown, the safest course was to wait.
Fortunately, high-level wizards provided support with extraordinary efficiency.
Only a few minutes later, Melister, whose nerves had remained taut as she monitored the overall situation, suddenly heard a gentle, calm voice inquire from beside her:
"What happened here? You actually activated the highest emergency signal."
Melister's heart jolted violently. With the perception of a Level 7 Wizard, she had not sensed at all when the other party had appeared!
She abruptly turned her head and saw a middle-aged wizard in a plain gray robe. He possessed an elegant temperament and a gentle face, and at some unknown moment had silently appeared in the control room, watching her