A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 314 proceeded smoothly

Upon returning to the Shadowlands, the ruins were eerily silent. Traces of the battle between the Analyzer-Burning Lion Squad and the Fallen Familia remained, and the remains of the knights were scattered about.

Rorschach found a relatively intact sword and began to trace the seal at the spot where it had been. Gradually, a magic circle began to take shape on the ground. Caroline looked over and saw that the core of the circle was a symbol with a regular hexagon as its main component.

"This is?"

"Let's make some preparations for what's to come." After finishing, Rorschach led the two out of the ancient ruins area and sealed the magic circle he had set up with a blue light barrier.

Originally, the node of the main force of order was also the fulcrum of the ancient ruins area in a symbolic sense. Now, Rorschach has planted a "bomb" at this fulcrum.

The sealing node in Jiaomaoding area was lifted smoothly. It is located at the highest point of the entire area, a clock tower without a clock.

The accident occurred after the deactivation; the old Empire's pikemen patrol continued along the mechanical route, somehow managing to stroll onto the ground in the real world. And the corresponding area was none other than Storm City.

The streets were nearly deserted, and the streetlights were almost out of kerosene, with only weak flames emitting a faint glow.

The skeletal ghosts of the old empire have returned to Storm City, where they once ruled, their loose armor plates clanging against their bones.

"Damn it, can't you see where you're going?" The drunkard, who had been lying on the side of the road, was woken up by the boots.

However, when he opened his eyes, he was met with dark eye sockets and a gray, tattered noodle sheet, which terrified the unfortunate drunkard.

The old empire had a strange law: people were not allowed to drink alcohol outdoors, supposedly to maintain city order. Even without eyes, the head of the guard still "saw" the bottle in the drunkard's hand and, without a word, grabbed his spear to stab him.

The drunkard tried to scream, but found he couldn't make a sound. Just as he was about to be pierced through the heart by a spear, an entire squad of old imperial soldiers turned to ashes and melted away before his eyes.

It must be a dream! The drunkard realized that his current situation perfectly matched that of having a nightmare. He remained motionless, desperately hoping to wake up.

Bang! His head was tapped, and he drifted off to sleep without any trouble.

"Fortunately, it was dealt with in time, preventing more residents from waking up and discovering the anomaly here." Luo Xia breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his enhanced hand.

Benedict felt he'd seen this physical sleep aid technique somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it; only a throbbing headache remained. "Let's hurry, the nights in Storm City are colder than underground."

Caroline glanced back at the drunkard. As they passed through the rift back to the Shadow City, a gust of wind suddenly blew up, carrying away old newspapers from beside the trash can, which ended up covering the drunkard.

With increased proficiency, destroying nodes located in the semi-submerged zone becomes much easier.

The node exists in an abandoned subway station control room, which has a map of the Storm City subway system from decades ago, when there were only four lines.

"Why would there be an abandoned subway station?" Benedict's interest shifted to the map. Not only their station, but many more stations on the map no longer served today, and he, a native Storm City elf, had never seen them before.

"You, a local, are asking us?"

"I thought you knew everything," Benedict said, feigning surprise, but Rorschach didn't even look at him, wasting a performance.

When Rorschach withdrew the power of the Lord of Order, space fluctuated again—no, it trembled physically, and there were lights from car headlights and the sound of rails colliding with wheels.

Just then, Count Elgin's mobile manor arrived.

"Teacher Caroline, could you help stabilize the space? If this continues, the Earl will be forced into the real world." Rorschach was still inscribing his magic circle and couldn't free his hands.

"Alright." Caroline acted swiftly, forcing the crack to close first, allowing the Earl's train to pass smoothly.

The Count and his loyal servants were fast asleep, completely unaware of the situation. The seal-breaking operation proceeded without incident.

Overnight, Rorschach and his group eliminated three power nodes and returned to the ancient ruins area to rest. Nodes in the core area and suburbs are still flashing on the map.

It was easy to find a place to rest in the ruins. Rorschach insisted on using planks salvaged from furniture to build a campfire. Caroline slept in Rorschach's sleeping bag, Rorschach slept in a haystack, and Benedict was tied up and lay on the floor.

Because Benedict couldn't sleep, Rorschach used physical methods to help him fall asleep again.

"The final step is to go to the core area?" Caroline also saw Rorschach's map and his cold profile illuminated by the firelight.

"When we break the seal, the power of the Lord of Order will be divided into three parts: scattered, recovered to the sacred land in the deep zone, and attracted by the remaining nodes. In other words, at this time, the nodes in the core area will receive more power of order, which will strengthen the Marquis's power."

Luo Xia explained to the teacher: "There are two methods. One is to wait, wait for the entire system to completely collapse. Bearing the power of the gods comes at a price. When the entire system is inconsistent, more divine power will only be a burden for the Marquis. He may even lose his self-awareness in the future, just like the Burning Lion Knight simulated by the analysis machine in the first seal."

Second, defeat him immediately and break the last seal.

Caroline frowned: "If we follow your plan, the first method will definitely fall behind the changing situation, but to defeat the Marquis, we've been driven into the deep dive zone by him."

"Alright, I admit it. The Marquis does indeed possess strength comparable to an archmage, not to mention that, as you speculated, he has become even stronger."

It wasn't just the Boss that got stronger. Rorschach ran his hand across the map's surface, and the displayed content changed. It was no longer just the power of the Lord of Order flickering; there were also dark shadows shrouding the entire Shadow City, remnants of Is, and mold-like patches, parts polluted by Mother Earth.

In addition, other fragmented remnants of power were also revealed in the ancient ruins area, indicating that more than three great beings had intervened in this place. For example, there is the sacred site in the Deep Sea area, as well as the remnants of Sylvanas's power.

And on the map, outside the Jiao Mao Ding area, at the edge of the shadowy area, there is a conspicuous package—a light spot that varies in size and has a wildly changing RGB lighting effect.

Rorschach guessed—no, even a dwarf could figure it out—that it was a projection of the god of change. The map seemed determined to make sure Rorschach noticed; the dots kept appearing after the display mode was switched.

He said something Caroline didn't immediately understand: "The Marquis is so powerful because he is an agent of the forces of the shadows. Then why did the forces of order choose him? Why is Earl Elgin so much weaker?"

"Because of the rank of the noble?"

"Maybe. I'm going to sleep now, goodnight, teacher." Luo Xia lay down and added, "I'll go find my friends tomorrow. They came down with me, and they're probably hiding somewhere from the Marquis's pursuit."

"Are they alright?"

"It's alright, one of them is a Gold-level adventurer." After saying that, Luo Xia went into a long rest.

(End of this chapter)