A Drastic Turn at the Conference

At that moment, Felix Vandall's expression in the audience had completely changed.

"The Other Shore... This is impossible..." he murmured, as if trying to convince himself that everything before him was not real. As an excellent alchemist, he naturally knew what Skylar's "The Other Shore" meant to the entire alchemical world.

But the scene before them was incredibly real. Everyone was awestruck by Skylar's research. Even the chief alchemists of the conference stood up to carefully observe the spectrum, their eyes filled with astonishment and fervor.

His face turned from pale to red, and finally flushed bright red, as if he had been slapped several times in public.

And Eleanor's voice floated lightly in his ear--

"What? Who was just laughing at me? I remember someone saying Skylar was 'overrated'?"

Her tone wasn't sharp; it even carried a hint of nonchalant lightness. Yet, it was precisely this effortless sarcasm that made Felix even more embarrassed. He could feel the mocking glances from the audience around him, and some were even snickering. His pride was utterly trampled into the ground at that moment.

From initial disdain to disbelief, and now to shock and embarrassment, his expression was terribly distorted, his fingers gripping the armrest so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"You can't even understand his work, yet you want to critique it?" Eleanor chuckled, seemingly amused by his predicament. "Don't you find it laughable?"

"You..." Felix's chest heaved violently, a mixture of shame, anger, jealousy, resentment, and deep frustration churning within him. He felt his pride being brutally crushed, and he felt like he was about to explode.

He stared intently at Skylar on the stage, a hint of gloomy resentment flashing in his eyes.

No... he won't give up so easily! Even if Skylar is riding high today, he won't be willing to be completely trampled underfoot!

Felix gritted his teeth, lowered his head, his nails almost digging into his palms, his eyes filled with resentful hatred.

After detailed discussions and confirmation by several master alchemists, the conference ultimately decided that Skylar would receive the "Gold Award for Pioneering Contribution."

This is the highest honor an alchemist can attain, and it represents the highest recognition of a research achievement by the entire alchemical community.

However, just as the awards ceremony was about to begin—

Boom!

The doors to the conference hall were violently flung open by a powerful impact, and several Black Shadow suddenly rushed into the air.

"Ah!!" Screams instantly echoed throughout the hall, and panic spread rapidly among the crowd.

Several beams of magical light intertwined in the air, and exploding flames ignited on the ceiling, plunging the entire hall into chaos.

Those present were all high-ranking alchemists, including many famous figures in the Wizarding World. However, alchemists are not actually good at direct combat in this situation, because they rely heavily on their various wondrous equipment and alchemical weapons.

They came purely for alchemical exchange and had no intention of fighting whatsoever. Apart from their wands, they carried very little else.

In fact, as an international event, the International Alchemy Conference has a considerable security force, which is why the alchemists who come to participate can let their guard down and come lightly equipped.

Skylar's eyes turned slightly cold. He activated his full-power Divine Insight of Amaterasu, and every blade of grass and tree inside and outside the venue came into his mind. The enemy numbered about forty people. Their actions were orderly and swift, indicating that they had come prepared and were well-organized.

Outside the venue, all the guards had been Silencio killed, and more than twenty corpses were scattered everywhere, indicating that the perpetrator was a ruthless black wizard who was not afraid of killing and arson and disregarded wizarding laws.

The enemy has already surrounded the alchemy research center, clearly their target isn't me, but rather they want to wipe out all the alchemists present.

This is not surprising. In addition to the "The Other Shore" that they themselves have shown, this year's Alchemy Conference has also seen many exciting new products, such as Cherry Moon's Demon-Suppressing Bell.

Skylar quickly took Cherry Moon's hand and joined Eleanor.

From within the Black Shadow, a deep, unfamiliar voice rang out. "Everyone, cease resistance and hand over your research... or you will be killed without mercy!"

The speaker was a tall, dark-skinned man who wore a priest's Diadem made from a beast's skull and a cloak made of animal skin. His hands were covered with strange black markings, like some kind of ancient curse mark. His eyes gleamed with an eerie golden light, and a sinister grin was on his face.

"Anubi..." An alchemist in the audience whispered the name in terror, his face turning deathly pale.

"The leader of the Cairo Black Market... that 'Beast Priest'?" The other man swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Hahaha!" Anubi out a low laugh, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall before finally settling on Skylar. "The Other Shore... you alchemists have indeed encountered this door after all."

The next second, he waved his hand, and a cold, biting wind swept by, carrying the scent of decay and dust.

The ground of the venue suddenly shook, and a strange change occurred on the ground. More than twenty mummies emerged from the ground. The mummies looked somewhat like Egypt Mummy. Their bodies were emaciated, their skin was cracked like weathered tree bark, revealing their ghastly bones. They were wrapped in tattered shrouds, and the smell of decay permeated the air.

However, they differ slightly from Mummy. Their eye sockets are sunken, with eerie blue phosphorescent flames burning within them, like the wrath of the dead. Their bodies, on the other hand, seem to be nailed to the ground, completely unable to move.

Many alchemists instinctively raised their wands, wanting to cast spells, but their wands seemed to have lost their magic, unable to even release the simplest "Lumos".

"W-What happened?"

"My magic wand...!"

Skylar frowned slightly, flicking his wrist as if to cast a basic Levitation Charm, but his wand only flashed once before falling silent completely.

"Be careful." Skylar's voice was low, his sharp gaze sweeping over the group of desiccated corpses. "This is a spell-based protective barrier."

Eleanor and Akabane Sakura both looked more serious.

"A spell-based restriction barrier?" Eleanor reacted quickly, repeating in a low voice.

Skylar nodded, his eyes deep in thought. "Those mummies are chanting low-frequency incantations that are inaudible to the human ear, interfering with the casting of all spells."

Akabane Sakura unconsciously tightened her grip on her Demon-Suppressing Bell, a thoughtful expression on her face. "So, these mummified corpses are essentially a giant magical interference field?"

These mummies are no ordinary undead creatures; each one carries an extremely ancient curse that affects a wizard's spellcasting with continuous low-frequency magical fluctuations. As long as they exist, any magic that relies on a wand will be severely limited, or even completely ineffective.

However, Anubi's men were completely unaffected.

Their wands could still cast spells, and the alchemists who tried to resist were mercilessly swallowed up by green Killing Curse before they could even react.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

One by one, figures fell silently, blood spreading across the stone floor, without even a scream.

A chilling fear slowly spread throughout the venue.

At this moment, Felix Vandall's legs had completely given way.

His face was ashen, his lips trembled, and his body moved backward uncontrollably until he finally collapsed to the ground with a thud. Fear caused his bladder to overflow, and a warm liquid flowed down his trouser leg, soaking his clothes and leaving a puddle on the ground.

He screamed, disregarding his image, "Don't kill me! I surrender! I surrender!!"

"... This guy has truly disgraced the alchemist world." Eleanor frowned, her eyes filled with disgust.

However, Felix suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a way to survive. His eyes flickered, then he abruptly pointed at Skylar and shouted, "It's him! It's Skylar Malfoy! The secret of the Other Shore is in his hands!"

In that instant, all eyes in the room were focused on Skylar.

Eleanor was furious and shouted, "Felix, you coward! Do you know what you're doing?"

"Ha..." Felix gritted his teeth, his heart hardening, and suddenly pointed at Eleanor, shouting, "And her! Eleanor Hohenheim! She's the next head of the Hohenheim Family! If you capture her, you can threaten the entire Hohenheim Family, and they will definitely pay a huge price to ransom her!"

The moment the words left her lips, Eleanor's expression changed drastically.

Anubi's smile grew even more sinister; he licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with the light of a predator.

"The heir to the Hohenheim Family... what a pleasant surprise!"

"Felix...!" Eleanor gritted her teeth, glaring angrily at the man who had wet his pants, her eyes filled with a hatred that seemed to want to tear him apart.

However, at this very moment, Anubi slowly raised his hand, signaling his men to surround Skylar and Eleanor.

"Then, you two, please come with us obediently."

Skylar's face showed no sign of panic; instead, it displayed his signature wicked smile.

Should I call you stupid, or just dumb?

Akabane Sakura chuckled softly and immediately shook the Demon-Suppressing Bell in her hand. The melodious sound of the bell rang in the air, and an invisible wave spread out, enveloping the entire hall.

The mummies seemed to pause slightly, and the flames in their eye sockets appeared to weaken.

At the same time, Skylar drew upon Sarf's magic, elevating his own magical power to the level of a quasi-magician, and a violent aura erupted from his body—

Skylar could have gone even further, using the power of the Nether Night Wand to directly reach the level of Grand Sorcerer, but he didn't. Doing so would have been too shocking, and he didn't want to reveal his true strength to the public. Look at Dumbledore's fate; excessive power only arouses the suspicion of those in power.

Even though he was still only at the level of a quasi-magician, Skylar was much stronger than he was during the battle of Little Hangleton Graveyard. Throughout the summer, he had mastered several new arcane techniques and his cultivation of Dark Arts had also improved by leaps and bounds. Although the current situation was not suitable for him to use Dark Arts, the amplification of his soul power by Dark Arts was real.

Simply put, he is now a completely different person compared to when he fought Voldemort one-on-one.

A cold glint flashed across his smiling face, and he gently pressed his left hand down—

An immense pressure suddenly descended, and the twenty-odd Inferius, the alchemists present, and the black-robed sorcerers all collapsed to the ground, their bodies pressed against the earth as if by an invisible mountain, their backs to the sky and their faces down.

Of those present, besides Skylar, Eleanor, and Cherry Moon, only Anubi remained standing. The Diadem he wore shimmered with a green light, seemingly neutralizing the effects of Skylar's "Hypergravity Domain."

Skylar maintained his downward-pressing left hand, while raising his wand with his right, pointing it at Anubi, and said in an utterly cold voice, "I'll give you a chance. Now, let's duel one-on-one."