Nervous Swallow's Design

The secretary knocked softly and entered, reminding Javier that the new batch of rotating staff had arrived. As is customary, the headmaster was required to personally greet them.

Javier gestured for his secretary to bring them over. He picked up the written letter, which was enveloped in a magical aura. As he chanted an incantation, the words on the letter began to distort and warp.

"Academy Spell: Tortoise Script and Bird Tracks!"

The originally neat text was immediately disrupted into a jumble of lines, like countless tiny tadpoles swimming on the paper.

Javier sealed the letter. A dozen or so staff members dressed in the uniforms of priests of various ranks filed into the office.

The two sides exchanged greetings and pleasantries as was customary.

"A salute to the school principal!"

"May the light shine upon us!"

Welcome to the Sea of Divine Grace!

Javier wore a formulaic smile, but his eyes were taking the opportunity to sized up everyone.

The highest-ranking person among those who came was Archbishop Stanton. He recognized the Feather Race; they were likely sent to strengthen patrols around the Sacred Mountain.

The Dome Mountains is freezing cold, with high mountains and strong winds. Ordinary human mages are simply not up to the task of patrolling in such an extreme environment, and must rely on the innate abilities of the Feather Race.

Even among the Feather Race, Stanton was a top-notch flyer.

Javier heard that the archbishop had been having a string of bad luck lately. He had failed in his pursuit of the Scholar Bay Owl at the Cui'an Sea Cliff, and then failed to arrive in time for the Battle of Agate Sea. He had tried to get revenge in the Sea Monster incident, but had a falling out with the Merchants' Federation.

These rumors must be true, otherwise Stanton wouldn't have been sent to Sacred Mountain to do such hard work.

"Excuse me!" Javier said in a deep voice, and then began to chant an incantation. The multi-detection spell swept over everyone's body like ripples on water.

He carefully verified everyone's identity, confirming that it matched the dispatch letter from headquarters and that no disguise was used.

"Arrange for them to hand over to the staff who are about to go on leave," Javier instructed his secretary after making sure everything was in order.

****

Javier pulled out the letter he had just written and handed it to his secretary, "Please also deliver this letter to Warden Sabina."

There's a communication array available to the Divine Might Prison, but is it convenient to discuss purchasing toys via communication?

The secretary accepted the gold-embossed letter, sealed with runes, with both hands.

"Wait!" Stanton suddenly spoke up, "I'm on my way to see Sabina and familiarize myself with the terrain."

As the archbishop, Stanton needed to make arrangements with the warden, another powerful figure in the Sacred Mountain region.

Javier thought about it and decided it was a good idea, so he handed the letter to Stanton.

The spell "Tortoise Script and Bird Tracks," created by the late Titled Scholar "Ashy Drongo," can only be unlocked by knowing the corresponding incantation, and he is not worried about being spied on.

Stanton nodded to Javier and then left the principal's office.

The Divine Might Prison isn't far from the academy, but you can't just fly there directly. The "Everwatching Obelisk's" anti-air barrier will actively attack any target flying within a spherical area above the academy.

Stanton was only able to take off after walking out of the gates of the Sea of Divine Grace. Before long, he arrived above the Divine Might Prison.

Unlike the magnificent and symmetrical Sea of Divine Grace, the Divine Might Prison's buildings are not only unevenly distributed, but even the left and right sides of each building are not aligned. It occupies a much smaller area, and its architectural style is more rugged and solid.

To prevent escapes, the prisons were all built deep underground, and the above-ground buildings were only for the use of the prison guards and were not numerous.

The most eye-catching of them all is the defensive magical artifact "Sacred Antelope Horn," which is smaller than the "Everwatching Obelisk" of the Sea of Divine Grace. It is not placed in the central square of the complex, but rather stuck in a position far from the center, as if it had been casually discarded there.

Stanton examined it closely and found that the "Sacred Antelope Horn" was indeed crooked. The runes engraved on it were not symmetrical at all, and the density of the runes on the left and right sides was inconsistent. One side was densely packed like ants carrying food, while the other side was so sparse that large blank areas could be seen.

"As expected of ' Nervous Swallow's' work," Stanton thought to himself.

He sighed, thinking that it must have been quite a challenge for the namer to come up with something as crooked as Antelope Horn.

****

Youth Civilization, Workshop.

Su Ming continued working on the list, this time he caught the busy Newman and consulted him about the defense systems of the Divine Might Prison and the Sea of Divine Grace.

"The magical defense device here in the Divine Might Prison is called the ' Sacred Antelope Horn.'" On the terrain model of the Sacred Mountain, Newman inserted a wooden strip diagonally into the corresponding position. "Although its overall size is only one-tenth of the ' Everwatching Obelisk ' in the Sea of Divine Grace, the horn's protected area is much smaller. Moreover, due to some special designs, its actual strength is actually higher."

Su Ming raised an eyebrow, pointing to the wooden strip that was clearly off-center, "Is this another one of your 'asymmetry is beauty' design concepts?"

"Hehe!" Newman grinned. "This is the slope of a mountain range; it's windy all year round."

He quickly sketched a diagram on a piece of paper, showing the unfolded form of the "Sacred Antelope Horn" shield—like an egg that had been bitten in the side.

"The Dome Mountains block the winds from the north of the Divine Might Prison, but in summer and autumn, the warm and humid air currents from the south are exceptionally strong," Newman explained. "The shield of the ' Sacred Antelope Horn ' is a hyperbolic streamlined shape, possessing extremely high aerodynamic adaptability. Even under level 10 wind pressure, the energy field shape can remain stable."

He continued drawing a diagram of the airflow dynamics, intending to further explain the derivation formulas of the functions involved, but Su Ming stopped him.

"Let's get straight to the point about the magic defense system's weaknesses." Su Ming skipped the irrelevant details and went straight to the heart of the matter. "How do we break through it?"

Newman reluctantly put down his pen. "As for the ' Everwatching Obelisk,' if we choose a day with a strong southerly wind, many distorted imperfections will appear on its semi-circular shield."

That's feasible; even in winter, the Dome Mountains often experience southerly winds.

Su Ming nodded, "Our second phase of attack targets the Divine Might Prison, and the third phase is the Sea of Divine Grace —we must first break through the ' Sacred Antelope Horn '."

"That makes things difficult." Newman thought for a moment, "I didn't leave any obvious weaknesses in the construction of the ' Sacred Antelope Horn.'"

"Then what about the less obvious weaknesses?" Su Ming pressed.

Newman marked three locations on the paper in one go. "This large shield system is composed of dozens of subsystems stacked together, and the strength distribution is not uniform—these three points are its weakest points, with only 75% of the standard value."

"Your quantity is much smaller than the standard design," Zijin, somewhat surprised. "The flaws are also very minor."

"Of course!" Newman said smugly. "I used a non-uniform staggered distribution technique to improve overall stress intensity and efficiency, eliminating most blind spots." He suddenly changed the subject, "But this also brings a drawback: if you simultaneously apply high-intensity attacks to these three points," he made an explosion gesture with his fist, "The entire system will collapse!"

This was an opportunity to exploit, so Su Ming immediately inquired, "Does the Temple of Light know about this?"

"I have absolutely no idea!" Newman stated definitively.

"The runes he engraved on the horn were all in random order," Zijin rubbed her temples. "Those tens of thousands of crooked runes, no one even bothered to calculate them carefully—and even if they did, they probably wouldn't be able to figure them out!"

"If I don't tell anyone, no one will be able to find these flaws," Newman said with a smug smile. "Unknown to others, the ' Sacred Antelope Horn ' system is perfect!"

That's a unique way to conceal weaknesses.

Su Ming pondered the tactical arrangements. Once the first phase of the battle began, Divine Might Prison would definitely deploy its shield immediately.

"Why don't you use infiltration?" Newman asked, puzzled. "Or perhaps we could launch the first attack before the ' Sacred Antelope Horn ' is deployed, and take it down?"

"The infiltration and initial attack have left room for another, more important target," Su Ming explained. "We've lured the Radiant Chanter here."

"Hector the Radiant Chanter, the Choir?" Newman's soul suddenly trembled. "You really aren't afraid of things getting out of hand!"

"From the perspective of attacking the Divine Might Prison, this significantly increases the difficulty," Zijin, leaning back in her chair and swaying gently. "But from a strategic point of view, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of preparedness to lure Hector out of the Radiant Holy City and annihilate him on the Sacred Mountain would be very profitable!"

"That's the line of thinking," Su Ming said. "It's impossible for us to have a peaceful resolution with the Council of Cardinals of the Temple of Light. So we can't let this opportunity to cut off a finger slip by!"

"You didn't just lose a finger," Newman corrected, "You severed an entire hand!" He then scanned the two men before him again. "You're impressive. What's the name of our new organization?"

This topic is a bit of a leap.

Su Ming looked at Zijin, Zijin was also looking back at him. The two of them had never discussed this before.

Although it hasn't been officially put on the table, judging from the current situation, it's already a fait accompli.

"I haven't thought about it yet." Su Ming steered the conversation back on track. "What exactly do you mean by 'high-intensity attack' that can shatter shield flaws?" He added, "I meant the power of an explosive detonation, not a magical attack!"

Newman paused. Converting magic into explosive equivalent was clearly not so easy, and the type of explosion and the impact distance needed to be considered.

But Newman quickly came up with a solution. He went outside the workshop and swiftly set up a small magic circle. Once activated, a mango-shaped white defensive shield, several meters square, lit up.

"This is equivalent to one-thousandth the strength of the ' Sacred Antelope Horn '," Newman announced, "You can test it to your heart's content!"

"Excellent!" Su Ming exclaimed sincerely.

****

Above the Divine Might Prison.

Stanton slowed his flight. He took out the letter and found it had been encrypted by Javier using the "Tortoise Script and Bird Tracks" spell.

"You dare to show off a spell invented by Sister Chloe?" he muttered contemptuously, then quickly broke the spell, and the disordered tadpoles swiftly returned to clear characters.

Stanton peeked through the envelope and quickly read its contents: Potatoes were in short supply, Javier wanted Sabina to contact other suppliers. The addresses and names of three suppliers were attached.

"Potatoes? Well done!" Stanton gritted his teeth. He memorized the contents and restored the encryption of "Tortoise Script and Bird Tracks".

Stanton landed quickly at the entrance of the Divine Might Prison. After passing through the guards' check, he entered through the main gate. With his legitimate identity, he did not need to announce himself and went straight to the main building, arriving at Warden Sabina's office.

Upon their first meeting, they exchanged brief pleasantries. Stanton then handed Sabina the principal's letter.

"Your addition has improved our early warning capabilities, and the defenses of the Divine Might Prison will be even more robust!" Sabina smiled. "It's just that the Sacred Mountain is freezing cold, so Archbishop Stanton will have to work hard from now on!"

"To defend the Holy Light and purify the world of filth is our inescapable duty!" Stanton responded resolutely.

"May the glory of God shine forever upon this vast earth!" Sabina prayed devoutly.

As Stanton left the warden's office, a female priestess of the Feather Race approached and bowed to him.

"Mr. Stanton, I'll take you to your dormitory."

Stanton nodded.

As the two left the main building side by side, Stanton noticed an inconspicuous black building on his left.

"That's the entrance to the Forbidden Sanctum," Yuya explained.

"Forbidden Sanctum?" Stanton glanced at it a few more times, quickly confirming, "Isn't it just a dungeon for holding prisoners?"

Yuya gestured for him to look back. Stanton turned around and saw the words "Dawn Anvil" prominently displayed on the warden's office building he had just left.

"What a pretentious name," Stanton scoffed.

"The name doesn't matter," Yuya sighed. "It's just that the architecture here is so symmetrical. The buildings above ground are fine, but as soon as I entered the dungeon, I felt completely disoriented."

"I brought a map," Stanton whispered, using a unique encryption method specific to the Feather Race.

Is a regular map useful here?

[This isn't an ordinary map.] Stanton smiled. [It's the most authentic map ever created—from the original designer!]

****

In the Sheltered Valley workshop, Su Ming frowned as he examined the crooked blueprints of the Divine Might Prison that Newman had taken out.

Symmetry is the least of the issues here—almost every room is an irregular polygon, with no interior angles that are exactly 90 degrees, and the dimensions are all over the place.

What's even more puzzling is that the layout of each floor is completely different, as if you're playing some kind of brain-teasing jigsaw puzzle.

Upon seeing the blueprint, Zijin refused to attend the meeting any longer and went out to study the miniature version of the "Sacred Antelope Horn".

"Why would the Temple of Light allow you to use such an inhumane design?" Su Ming couldn't help but ask.

"This was done with careful technical considerations," Newman explained. "Being located in a mountainous area, I used a special multi-layered, interlocking structure to significantly reduce the risk of foundation slippage. These buildings have been standing for twenty years, and not a single settlement crack has appeared."

"Are there risks of subsidence in the buildings over at Sea of Divine Grace?" Su Ming asked.

"No, not at all," Newman replied, "But the budget per unit area for the Sea of Divine Grace is more than three times that of the Divine Might Prison —those old men of the Divine Covenant Faction are willing to sacrifice anything for their family's descendants."