Chapter 48 (Continued)

They actually used jetpacks to fly...

I must refuse to acknowledge that he was my former colleague.

The airspace was also under curfew; apart from staff, no private airships or aircraft were allowed to approach. We slipped past silently without attracting any attention.

Reynold stared intently at the equipment in the scientists' hands... Hmm, that looks like a detection device? Because I saw Reynold preparing to pull out his identification—

"Oh my god... they didn't even notice us?"

Mel and I fell into an enigmatic silence...

... They didn't even plant a single Mage Eye, how could they possibly detect an invisible mage??? What nonsense are you spouting, Sheep Speaker!

Reynold followed us, clearly out of sorts. We were standing right next to the accident site, and the dwarves could hear everything from the corner of the wall.

However, we soon discovered that this was not a normal accident, but rather an attack, as we saw familiar magical weapon wounds on several of the wounded.

Just like the weapon wounds left by the cyborgs who attacked the prison.

So, we just stumbled upon this once-in-a-century, high-profile rise of a powerful villain in modern society?

There was a large hole in the ground, the entrance to the mine. Lusien explained that miners used to carry supplies and wear jetpacks to enter the underground mine from the mining platform. Lusien further explained that a large part of the dwarven city was actually located deep within the mountains, underground. They could mine extremely high-purity magic crystal ore from the core of the mountains. They didn't use it themselves, but the Federation's Magitech desperately needed it. Therefore, this entire mine produced magic crystal ore for export to the Federation. The dwarven mines were also quite interesting; many dwarves were used to living in the mines. They loved caves and guarding the ore veins...

Therefore, we will face very complex terrain and many dwarf buildings in this mine.

One of the wounded, covered in blood, was still gesturing wildly as he was carried out. While the previous wounded had indeed mentioned cyborgs, he was now shouting hysterically, "Demons! Demons! The Heart of the Mountain Range has been defiled! There are demons in the mine! Those monsters, terrifying monsters!"

Demon?

We immediately became alert, looking into the dark mine pit. Due to the interference of the magic crystal ore, neither our magical perception nor the magic detector carried by Lusien could reveal what was beneath the surface. But... a demon?

"I've only ever heard of real demons in bard stories! They have to be old tales from the legendary era!" Luolan said casually. "And the demons in movies or games are just fictional creatures created by modern artists! Not to mention the various succubus girlfriends in web novels... So, he was probably just scared by the cyborgs."

That's right, because they are so rare that demons and devils have almost become adjectives or exclamations. In modern society, if someone says, "Oh my god, I saw a devil," in 99% of cases it's an exclamation using hyperbole, rather than a real Abyss creature wreaking havoc in front of them.

When I first commented that Moli's makeup resembled a little devil from the Abyss, she didn't realize I was talking to her about some kind of otherworldly creature living in another dimension. She thought I was saying she was "evil and had a sinister charm"... So I punished her by making her copy the entire "Illustrated Guide to Abyss Creatures".

After that, she spent the whole day telling me jokes about "the male protagonist pinching the female protagonist's chin and giving her a wicked smile," as revenge.

Even in ancient times, the summoning of demons to this world was a rare and sensational event. The Plane of Nothingness, or Abyss, where they resided, was separated from our Diana Continent by an almost impenetrable barrier, nearly more difficult than crossing Astral Plane —a barrier erected by the God of Light and the Lord of Darkness at the beginning of creation. According to mythology (yes, such ancient things are naturally only told in mythology, otherwise what else could we expect), even gods fail in creating all things, so they isolated another warp to prevent these failed creations, which they were too reluctant to destroy, from damaging the prime plane.

I cannot guarantee the accuracy of these myths, because after all, tens of thousands of years have passed, and even the oldest dragon sage could not imagine what the sky looked like when it first lit up. And judging from the experience gained from the modern internet, even something that happened yesterday can become strange and unusual tomorrow after being passed around by various people. Moreover, those ancient secrets have been passed down from generation to generation, and even now, the high priest of the Temple of Light does not know whether the God of Light is male or female, let alone what the beings in another dimension separated from the gods are like.

However, all past lessons point out that one should not summon demons lightly.

In ancient times, only high-profile demon kings would have nothing better to do than summon demons, because summoning demons would increase their exposure, so they would soon be attacked by the whole world and die within a couple of days. Even worse, demons would uncontrollably destroy a city, or even kill the summoner, without the need for righteous people to lift a finger.

So, although I know the spells to summon demons or devils, it's the only academic subject I absolutely don't want to verify. I'd rather it remain a conjecture than risk destroying half the capital (or putting myself on the wanted list) to confirm it.

Reynold replied, "Lord Luolan is right. I don't believe any spellcaster in modern society has the ability to break spatial constraints and summon demons."

Hmm... you can say whatever you want, but don't look at me and Mel!

I doubt Mel would want to try it either!

"So?" Lusien asked, "What did he see? Because he said monster... I feel that in this context, the demon he's talking about should actually be some kind of strange-looking creature, rather than the metaphor the media usually uses to describe serial killers."

Reynold pondered for a moment, "Perhaps it's a holographic projection used by the enemy to create panic? Psychological warfare is a hot topic these days."

Speaker Reynold, I admire your imagination once again!

"Anyway, we'll find out when we get down there." I said, stopping their endless speculation. Whatever it is, we have to go down, right? Then I used my Flight Spell to quickly descend into the mine.

The mine is very dark now. When an attack occurs in such a place, you can refer to the tropes of horror movies. I've seen Moli watch horror movies, and the attacker usually turns off the lights immediately. You can't say that works of art aren't real, because in real life, this move is indeed quite dangerous for ordinary people. Not to mention being suddenly attacked and unable to see, even if you're sitting at home enjoying dinner and the power suddenly goes out, you can hear screams coming from all over the building.

I...

I've never liked spaces without light because it reminds me of those seven years in the bunker.

During that time, I went from being anxious and panicked at the beginning to feeling like a fish in water in the dark and cold tunnels... But this improvement in ability was not what I wanted to see. In that place where even time was blurred, I got used to opening and closing my eyes to darkness every day, got used to being far from the sunlight and grass, got used to people dying or dying every day. I once thought that I would eventually die there too. I even calmly prepared to die there, and then my teacher would make my corpse into puppets to guard it.

Back then, I always felt that my life's direction was inevitably to become a puppet guardian, driven by my teacher, forever left in the darkest night. Oh, I was actually quite fortunate back then, because the senior brothers and sisters with poor magical skills all turned into skeletons sweeping the floor.

That is...

That was something I had been trying so hard to forget, but I regretfully discovered that it was already deeply ingrained in my very being.

"Xipei."

A pair of warm hands grasped me, and a surge of heat flowed from where our skin touched, like a rope pulling my falling soul back. Those hands were gentle yet firm, holding my wrists and fingers. Our palms pressed together, and warmth flowed continuously until...