From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 510 The attack begins

The brand-new steel guardian reflected the golden sunlight, and as it moved forward, the clanging sound of metal hitting the stone pavement reminded every citizen on the street.

Some believe that the steel guards have brought long-lost order to the city, while others believe they infringe on citizens' freedom.

Regardless of opinions on the Steel Guardians and Gotash, no citizen wanted to stand in the way of this giant metal construct.

"Damn it." Karak spat into the bushes. "Ever since I found out that these guys are powered by the Infernal Engine, I've felt like there's always a sulfurous smell in the city... just like on me."

“Focus on your mission, Karak.” The Gisyanki warrior’s eyes were warily fixed on the patrolling Flamefist Guards who followed behind the Iron Guard. “How much time has passed?”

Karak pulled a pocket watch from her person, held it up to her face, and counted on the dial with her fingernail, "One...two...oh, the second thickest hand has moved three notches...that means, fifteen minutes?"

“Very good, let’s see if the next shift of guards comes in fifteen minutes.” Leezel nodded. “How did Ivy invent such a sophisticated timekeeping machine? Just using gears and metal springs? I thought he was going to give us a magic timer.”

“This wasn’t exactly his invention…maybe.” Karak put the pocket watch back into his pocket. “Ten years ago, when I was still making a living in Baldur’s Gate, I heard that the Gond followers had created a giant timekeeping machine, unlike the clocks in the lower city. Because the nobles living in the upper city thought the clocks that chimed every hour were too noisy, they changed it to a particularly huge dial, similar to the one Ivy made. Once the hands on the dial had completed a full rotation, it meant that half the day had passed.”

"So, how do the Gisyanki keep time?" Karak asked with interest. "You practically live in military camps, so your timetables must be very strict, right?"

“There is no concept of time in the Astral Plane. In the Nurturing Chamber, we obey the whistles and orders of our superiors.” Leezel’s golden eyes looked up, where a watchtower connected to the city wall stood, and several Flame Fist soldiers were looking idly at the citizens below, their weapons leaning crookedly against the wall.

Although both the Upper City Sentinels and the Lower City Flame Fist Guards are responsible for protecting the city, their relationship is far from harmonious. Despite standing on the same section of the city wall, the watchtowers and the wall's defenses are the responsibility of two separate groups.

Flamefist was responsible for monitoring the lower city, while Sentry was responsible for monitoring Flamefist—even the weapon slots on the watchtowers didn't have openings facing the upper city.

“No time… I can’t even imagine it. Is everything in the astral plane frozen in time?” Karak scratched her head.

“The absence of time does not mean the absence of change.” Lyezel remained vigilant, but also tried his best to respond to his companion’s curiosity. “Time is just a frame of reference that you are used to. In the Astral Plane, we have other frames of reference.”

"Hmm... I don't quite understand." Karak's reaction made Leezel lose interest in continuing the explanation, so the two stood in silence for a while.

"If Ivy is going to launch an attack from underground, why are we here?" Karak's silence had been burned away by her own flames.

"...Did you really understand the battle plan?" Leezer asked to confirm.

"Pretty much," Karak gestured with her hands. "First, signal Ivy and the others, then rush into that tower and start a massacre, that's roughly it..."

"A city guard corrupted by vampires... Hmph, I'm not surprised at all." Karak snorted.

“It’s a cursed slave of Qazador,” Leezel corrected. “Asdalon explained it; he’s a cautious vampire who not only obtained the defense of the walls right next to his palace from the sentries, but also built a watchtower on the walls that can monitor three districts. We need Qazador’s palace as a base, and that’s probably half the reason why we need this watchtower.”

"Ivy actually needs a watchtower?" Karak exclaimed in surprise. "I thought he'd use a crystal ball to monitor the entire Baldur's Gate!"

"Can he really do it?" Leizer asked curiously.

“Haven’t you heard the poets in the taverns tell stories? That’s what those old wizards living in the towers do—use a crystal ball to monitor their territory!” Karak gave his reasoning. “Besides, he can create those moving surveillance golems, so making a crystal ball shouldn’t be a problem for him, right?”

“I’m afraid he doesn’t have time,” Lyezel explained. “After Gale returned from the shrine of the goddess of magic yesterday, the two of them stayed in their room all day, engrossed in a thick magic book. While Shadowheart was braiding my hair, she was almost constantly talking badly about Gale.”

"What?" Kara looked up at the top of Leezel's head, but apart from a little bit of hair peeking out from the edge of the hood, she didn't find what she was looking for. "I'm so envious of you! Shadowheart's fingers must be very nimble! My hair is so stiff and curly, just keeping it on my shoulders is exhausting."

Leizer smiled slightly: "Her fingers are indeed very dexterous... Wait, the Iron Guard is coming again, let's check the time."

“This time it’ll be longer, twenty minutes.” Karak pulled out her pocket watch, while Leezel pulled her back to prevent her from being caught by the greatsword on the Iron Guard’s back.

Only after the Iron Guardians and the Flame Fist patrol team had all disappeared from the street corner did the two continue their conversation.

“It seems that fifteen minutes is their shortest patrol interval. That should be enough time for Ivy to dig a big hole underground, right?” Karak reached into her pocket and pulled out a wooden stick. Ivy had attached the simplest warning magic to it. As long as the stick was broken, Ivy, who was underground, would lead her teammates to launch an attack.

But since they were going to have to dig through the foundation of the city wall, it was best to avoid patrolling soldiers. Karak and Leezel were standing there for that very reason.

“It’s our turn to move, right?” Karak lit a flame in her palm and ignited the broken wooden stick. “The invisibility potion won’t let us get past those soldiers, so be careful going upstairs.”

"Be careful not to set the watchtower stairs on fire." Leezel took off his cloak and threw it into the bushes by the roadside.

“Your new hairstyle is really nice. Maybe I should ask Shadowheart for help?” Karak lowered her voice, following behind Leezel toward the watchtower guarded by Flamefist. The palace tower built by Kazador was even higher up; once they captured it, their mission for the day would be complete.

Of course, they weren't the only ones assigned to this task. The eagle transformed from the Archdruid, and Irene, the daughter of Serene, hidden higher up, were also their helpers. Not to mention the evil thoughts and others who had already infiltrated the city walls using invisibility potions.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

“So, Asdallen,” Shadowheart, unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere underground, asked, “the vampire’s lair—what should I expect to see there? Rats, frogs, or bats?”

“Vampires… without a doubt, the safest answer.” Asdell was somewhat absent-minded. He had thought about how to persuade his friend to kill Kazardor together, but under Ivy’s leadership, Flame Fist and Harpist held a battle meeting yesterday and today broke into the vampire lord’s territory from underground.

“How ridiculous.” Yingxin curled her lip. “You belong on the stage—especially the bloodstained kind, with a hooded man holding an axe standing next to you.”

“As long as there are cheering spectators, it doesn’t matter if they expect my death or something else…” Asdallen regained some focus. “The vampire’s lair, you should have Ivy cover your nose. The smell there is usually very… organic.”

"Are we going up?" Floric asked, holding a torch. "I thought the vampire lord's ritual was underground."

The soil and rocks parted automatically in front of Ivy. They had already moved some distance away from the sewer pipes, but they still hadn't found any underground space belonging to the vampires: "If the information we have is correct, then the vampire lord's underground ritual site is likely to be in a deeper place, such as the Underdark."

“That makes perfect sense.” Jahira also held up a torch. “After all, he needs to house seven thousand vampire clones and build a city beneath Baldur’s Gate.”

“Or maybe it’s a prison,” Gale joined the conversation. “After all, vampires and their derivatives don’t need normal food, water, or air. As long as there’s enough space, they can be housed.”

“Whichever the case, it means our underground journey will take much longer.” Ivy looked up. Besides Karak and Leezel, Evil Thought and the other adventurers who hadn’t appeared underground were also positioned on the city walls. Invisibility potions would help them evade Flame Fist’s sight, but the steel guards patrolling below the watchtowers were in blind spots, so someone had to keep watch from below. “We’ve passed the foundations of the city walls and are almost directly beneath Kazardor’s Palace. The vampire lord and his evil servants are right above us. Be prepared for battle at any moment.”

“Hopefully we don’t just crawl out of Qazador’s banquet hall. He often invites guests to his parties, but no one ever comes out alive,” Asdalon grumbled. “I wonder if Flame Fist and the Sentinels are all controlled by a bunch of blind and deaf people. So many years, so many disappearances, hasn’t anyone suspected Qazador?”

“Someone must have succeeded, but a vampire lord who has been entrenched in Baldur’s Gate for so long is not easy to deal with,” said Uma, the leader of the monster hunter race in the eyes of the Faerûn, also known as the Gur. She and her hunters had been brought into the city by the guild. “We lost many skilled men in the last raid, but this time, we will definitely not leave empty-handed.”

Ivy, who was walking at the front, suddenly raised her hand, stopping the chatter in the group.

The tactic of launching attacks directly from underground is certainly due to the underground tunneling speed brought by his [Earth Elemental Summoning], but when encountering man-made objects, he still needs to use Fossilized Mud and Stone Shaping to open a passage.

After passing the foundation of the city wall, the frequency of stones appearing in the soil increased. At this moment, what blocked Ivy's way was a wall made of gray bricks and stones, with clear traces of damp soil left on it: "We've arrived."

The warriors following behind Ivy tensed up and gripped their weapons tightly.

However, Ivy did not rashly blow up the wall and enter Qazador's palace directly.

Besides Ivy wanting a complete base, a single entrance only allows a small number of warriors to pass through at a time. When the difference in strength between the enemy and ourselves is still unclear, a narrow engagement width is fatal, and it is easy to fall into the embarrassing situation of being killed one after another.

Therefore, Ivy slightly widened the underground space on both sides, expanding the narrow passage that could only be passed by one person to a space that could accommodate three people walking side by side.

"Are you ready, Gale?" Ivy looked at Gale as he watched the Flame Fist, the Harpist, and the Gur monster hunters line up in the crowded passage. The method he had chosen for deploying his forces was the Arcane Gate, a spell that could connect two different spaces using a glowing portal.

Compared to physical demolition, which carries the risk of collapse, spatial magic is undoubtedly more convenient.

Moreover, the passages created by the arcane gates lack the protrusions that easily snag armor and weapons, allowing warriors to enter Kazardor's palace without hindrance and slay the dark creatures within.

Gail nodded, then confirmed, "Just open the door behind this wall, right? Don't worry about bumping into anything?"

"I'll go ahead and clear the obstacles for you." In addition to the underground burrowing speed that comes with [Earth Elemental Summoning], Ivy also has a Stonewalking spell that she can use. However, the latter will not leave a tunnel for others to pass through, nor will it damage the original structure of the brickwork, so it is not suitable for use when she is with teammates.

However, it was more than enough for Ivy to pass through the wall and then clear the space for Gale to release the arcane portal.

The arcane gate is twenty feet in diameter, large enough for four or five people to pass through side by side, so only one portal is needed to teleport all the warriors through.

However, if there are other obstacles at the portal's landing point, the portal cannot be opened. Similarly, fourth-ring portal spells can even cause force field damage to the teleported object if other objects obstruct the landing point.

"After today, there will be no more vampire lords at Baldur's Gate. And this is thanks to our valiant fight ahead." Ivy briefly declared the start of the war before passing through the stone wall and entering Kazardor's palace.

(End of this chapter)