The night darkness was no obstacle to Reyn's vision.
Below the tower, a significant part of the Silverstar district had sunk into the ground, with varying depths of subsidence.
Brent Street had suffered the worst—the busiest street in the Silver Star district. It had all collapsed downward, and where the "Oath Sword" shop had been, a massive crater dozens of meters deep formed.
A straight trench stretched from the crater, pointing directly at the Mage Tower.
Reyn understood at a glance that this trench was the tunnel the Shadow Blade had dug to reach the base of the Mage Tower. But they'd been discovered early and hadn't completed their plan.
The end of the trench had already reached Silverstar Academy territory, less than a hundred meters from the Tower's base.
The Shadow Blade had detonated the tunnel's end, leaving a funnel on the square before the Tower. Clearly, they'd tried to collapse it, but failed.
Nevertheless, the Mage Tower was damaged: its base cracked, and the ground beneath seemed slightly shifted.
For centuries, the Duchess of the Silver Star had planned a floating city.
A floating city doesn't appear from nowhere. It's a phased process: first, a foundation is built on the ground with the Mage Tower at the center, then a complex system of magical formations deep underground. The Iolla Core serves as the energy source, activating the formations and lifting the entire city into the sky.
The Duchess of the Silver Star's floating city project encompassed all of Silverstar Academy territory.
Now the explosion had left a huge funnel, damaging the academy's underground structures. Restoration would take a long time before floating city construction could resume.
But the damage to the Mage Tower and Academy wasn't the worst.
Reyn saw that south of the Tower, nearly half the Silverstar district had become a disaster zone. Chaos reigned over five or six square kilometers. At least a quarter of buildings had collapsed, the ground cracked, streets twisted. Residents panicked out of homes, staring bewildered at the scene.
People desperately called for help and dug through rubble with bare hands, trying to save loved ones buried under debris.
Due to ground subsidence, Silverstar district was now below the Ferreglen river level to the east, and water rushed into the depression.
Fortunately, a group of mages from the Secret Flame Guard arrived in time. With joint efforts, they froze the water with spells, creating an ice dam hundreds of meters long and halting the flooding.
In the collapse zone, squads of knights in silver armor combed the area.
This was the Silver Armored Knights Order—the largest armed force under the Duchess of the Silver Star's command. Every member was a superhuman, mostly initial-rank Iron Guards.
Some Silver Knights hunted hidden enemies, others helped residents rescue people from rubble.
Secret Flame Guard mages also joined the rescue operation.
Thanks to superhumans' strength and spells, rescues proceeded efficiently. A single detection spell located the buried. If not killed instantly, they were quickly extracted.
Someone was saved nearly every minute.
Seeing this, Reyn nodded inwardly.
Fortunately, this was a world with supernatural powers. If the ruler wanted to do good and organized properly, damage could be minimized.
Public order didn't collapse under the disaster and remained stable.
By Reyn's estimate, casualties from this man-made catastrophe would be two to three thousand. Silverstar was Longsand's richest district with low population density, so losses weren't catastrophic.
If it had happened in Reyn's slums, casualties could be dozens of times higher!
Though deaths were relatively few, economic damage was undoubtedly massive. Rebuilding alone would take years.
The entire Silverstar district, and Longsand itself, had suffered a heavy blow.
Restoration would take at least three to four years.
The Duchess of the Silver Star's floating city plan was definitely set back, and who knew for how many years.
Reyn glanced at the Holy Spiritual Mage. Her face seemed calm, but he felt suppressed energy emanating from her. Her gaze was deep, thoughts hidden.
After a long time, she finally spoke slowly.
"Over three hundred years ago, when I chose Longsand as my duchy, I already knew of the underground dwarven fortress. I even explored it but found nothing valuable. When building the Mage Tower, I accounted for its location, but apparently didn't distance enough. The Shadow Blade seized the chance."
Reyn wasn't surprised.
That the Duchess of the Silver Star had visited the Iron Beard's Hold was no shock.
As a knowledge-seeking mage ruling Longsand for centuries, she couldn't not know of such a massive underground fortress in her territory. Otherwise, she wouldn't deserve the title of Holy Spiritual Mage.
"Your Grace the Duchess, how did the Shadow Blade manage this?" Reyn asked curiously.
This world had no explosive tech or powerful explosives. Phlogiston could make bullets, but a massive blast required corresponding spiritual power. Even draining a legendary mage's full power wouldn't suffice for such scale.
"An eighth-circle Earthquake," the Duchess of the Silver Star replied indifferently. "Plus several fire explosion rune circles at key points. They detonated critical sections of the fortress's first level, causing the stronghold to collapse, triggering a minor earthquake."
Reyn whistled in shock.
Eighth-circle spells could only be cast by high legendary-level mages or above. Clearly the warlock Tinos's work.
Fifth-circle spells and higher were rare, none cast lightly. Each required meticulous preparation.
In battle, even legendary mages mostly used mid- and low-circle spells.
Even Holy Spiritual Mages rarely used high-circle spells casually, relying mainly on mid- and low-circle, seldom above sixth.
An eighth-circle Earthquake needed at least days of preparation, magical formations setup, and massive reagents. Add fire explosion rune circles—cost in tens of thousands of gold, or more.
To counter the Duchess of the Silver Star, the Shadow Blade spared no expense.
Fortunately, the Mage Tower was far enough, at the collapse zone's edge, or it would have fallen.
"They didn't steal the Iolla Core?" Roger asked worriedly.
"Of course not."
The Duchess of the Silver Star gave Roger a charming smile, regaining her enigmatic aura.
"And for that, thanks to your tip, which let me move the Iolla Core in advance. Especially you, Reyn..."
She looked at him smiling, making Reyn feel a bit flattered.
"That magic swordsman you brought to the 'Basilisk' tavern already tipped me off that Shadow Blade agents hid in Longsand. Lately, I've conducted a secret investigation, found leads, identified some Loxi followers. I didn't disturb them, wanted to wait. But then you told me the rest."
Reyn hurriedly waved his hands.
"I just stumbled on them by chance."
"Once—maybe coincidence. Twice—I might believe. But three times in a row or more..." The Duchess of the Silver Star's eyes flashed. "You think I'll buy that?"
Roger and Zoltan didn't quite follow and asked.
"What three times?"
The Duchess of the Silver Star noticed Reyn didn't want to admit it, so just smirked, gave him a meaningful look, and said no more.
Under her gaze, Reyn broke into a cold sweat.
He knew exactly what cases she meant. First—destroying the Abyss Gates, chalk it up to chance. Second—killing Wilt the magic swordsman. Today's—third.
Saying "or more," she clearly hinted she knew of others.
Possibly including his secret report, and the Iceberg case at the start of his path. She could have dug it all up.
Put together, that's five times.
Reyn thought if he hadn't thwarted Shadow Blade plans multiple times, proving he wasn't their agent, given all these coincidences, the Duchess of the Silver Star would've grabbed and interrogated him long ago without evidence.
Fortunately, she seemed to harbor no grudge. At least, in fighting Loxi followers, their stances aligned.
At that moment, a huge dragondor flew up from below.
Reyn checked it with the Eye of the Soul: a Soul Lord School Shape-Shifter Mage at sixteenth level!
A sixteenth-level mage—high legendary rank.
The emerald-green dragondor had a sleek body covered in hard scales. Its eagle-like head crowned with a curved beak, two pairs of sharp claws under the belly. Wings feathered, broad and powerful, nearly thirty-meter span. It stirred a strong updraft and reached the Mage Tower top in under ten seconds.
A dragondor with green dragon blood!
The Duchess of the Silver Star showed no combat readiness at the sight.
The dragondor approached the balcony, its form blurring in the air, instantly turning human and landing.
A young man of extraordinarily beautiful, refined features, long black hair tied back with a silk ribbon. Dressed in a simple mage robe, straight posture, noble bearing, leaving an unforgettable impression.
Reyn's gaze fell on the man's ears.
The tips were slightly pointed, like Viola's. A half-elf!
"Mistress, the Secret Flame Guard has combed all of Silverstar district. Thirty-five Shadow Blade assassins killed total. No other evil god followers found yet."
Landing, the half-elf immediately reported to the Duchess of the Silver Star.
The Duchess frowned slightly.
"Flink, couldn't finish off Harken for good?"
"No," regret showed on Flink's face. He shook his head.
"I fell for his trick. Destroyed only three illusory copies. His real body must have escaped."
The Duchess of the Silver Star paused, then sighed.
"Tricksters with their multiple copies are always the slipperiest foes. If Harken chose to flee, even I might not catch all copies. You've done enough."
Flink, however, was dissatisfied, annoyance in his eyes.
Reyn, Roger, and Zoltan exchanged glances. Harken surviving boded ill.
"Harken escaped, but what about Tinos?" Roger asked.
Compared to Harken, Tinos was far more dangerous. The nineteenth-level warlock was one step from Holy Spiritual Mage rank.
"Tinos is dead," the Duchess of the Silver Star replied casually. "He was Loxi's Chosen One. Loxi dared send her will, but the Goddess timely granted me her power. I incinerated him with silver flame."
Divine descent!
Reyn was stunned. So just before, a divine descent had occurred—two deities clashed, using their Chosen as avatars.
Obviously, the Goddess of Magic had emerged victorious.
However, one circumstance puzzled Reyn. Why had Tinos chosen to die rather than flee?
Even during a divine descent, the power of the Chosen One himself played a crucial role. Tinos was merely nineteenth level and couldn't stand against the Silver Star Duchess. The gap in strength between a higher legendary and a Holy Spiritual Mage was colossal, and divine descent couldn't compensate for it.
Tinos surely understood this. He had come to Longsand not to kill the Duchess. He must have prepared a path for retreat, yet for some reason, he died.
Had the renowned legendary warlock come here to die? There was definitely some mystery hidden in this.
I wonder what the Silver Star Duchess herself thinks about it?