Witch Hunter Rhapsody

"What are you surprised about?"

Liena was baffled by Vitas's reaction; to her, Vitas had simply gasped upon seeing the bed, which was now just a wooden frame.

In fact, Vitas was also unsure of his own judgment. He looked at the layout of the furniture in front of him again, and a strange sense of familiarity rose in his heart.

"Could this be a magic circle?"

"What?"

Liena carefully examined her surroundings, but she didn't see anything that resembled a magic circle.

"What are you talking about? There are no spell patterns here, nothing that glows, and my... magical items aren't reacting."

Vitas also found it hard to explain the feeling; he suddenly had this feeling when he saw the interior of the house.

Have I been dealing with wizards too much? Or am I just hallucinating?

Think back carefully to whether you noticed anything strange when you stayed overnight at Elizabeth's house.

Wait a minute, when I stayed overnight at Elizabeth's house before, many parts of this place were covered by luxurious and complicated furniture.

But now, all these elaborate decorations have been removed, leaving only these simple structures, and a rather obvious arrangement appears before us.

The room's frame, structure, and other immovable elements combine to create a strange and unsettling atmosphere.

Vitas suppressed his nausea and looked closely.

"This room itself is a magic circle."

"Are you kidding me? Does that mean we're already inside this magic circle?"

"I'm afraid so, but since it hasn't been triggered for so long, it probably won't trigger the magic circle's effect now either."

Vitas deduced, then turned his gaze back to the entire room. He pondered that if it wasn't a conventional magic circle, it should be intended for Elizabeth, not Viya herself.

If it's for Elizabeth to use, then there should be some special switches.

A strange switch that doesn't require much magical knowledge and can't be accidentally activated. And since it's located in a mortal's room, the magical power supply should be provided by the user themselves.

After pondering for about five minutes, Vitas began searching the room for any strange places that might exist, while Liena watched with great anticipation.

Can Vitas find something to change the status quo?

As Liena waited expectantly, Vitas stood up and then shook his head.

"I think I'll go find the wizard I know."

"Sigh, all that excitement for nothing."

……

On her way to find Declan, Liena raised her own questions.

"I mean, is it really a good idea to seek help from a wizard like this? This is something that wizards would want to know."

"That's true in a sense, but without the wizards' help, I have no way to access their knowledge."

"Really, who is this wizard you know?"

"Declan, he never told me his last name."

"The name Declan is not particularly rare. Even Nectus has a student named Declan, and Drak has one as well. I even know of another Declan who is second only to these two."

"Are wizards' names really that unoriginal?"

Vitas began to consider the possibility that Declan was a student of Nectus.

To be honest, the possibility is not high. The reason is simple: Nexus should remember him, and since he has been talking with Declan for so long, Declan should have mentioned him to Nexus.

That's how wizards are. They have high expectations of their students, a strong desire for control, and nothing can stop them from knowing things, such as their students' research progress and social interactions.

If Declan really is Nexus's student, then he should have already been captured by Nexus.

It should be noted that the magic circle that destroyed himself and his knightly order at that time was clearly meticulously prepared.

Was he really not Nectus's disciple?

Vitas had never considered such a possibility before, and now that he had suddenly discovered it, a sense of fear arose within him.

He didn't even want to see Declan anymore. He was having a hard time controlling his urge to figure it all out. And if he knew that Declan was Nexus's student, he would absolutely not be able to resist the urge to attack, to pin that guy to the ground and behead him, to chop him to pieces!

"Liena, don't you know any wizards yourself? Or rather, didn't your father keep wizards for his own use?"

"Such a relationship doesn't exist. Wizards are bound by knowledge, and you can feel how much importance these people place on the master-apprentice lineage. It's almost impossible for others to intrude into such a relationship. The wizards who serve our family are basically students of two great wizards."

Compared to these students who are definite enemies, the uncertain Dekran is more reassuring.

Finally, Vitas sighed and made one last question.

"Do you really have to go with me? If possible, it's better not to go; it's too dangerous."

"Of course I can take care of myself, Vitas. Don't treat me like a little girl like Etherra."

"It's a pity that Aetherias's caution is what you lack."

Vitas didn't continue with these pointless remarks; he wouldn't offer unnecessary advice to someone determined to do something foolish.

Vitas had sensed an eerie atmosphere when he first entered Declan's villa, and now he looked at it with hatred.

Is it possible that Declan was a student of Nectus?

he does not know.

Finally, Declan opened the door himself.

"Oh, it's Vitas! What brings you here all of a sudden?"

"Playing? No, Declan, I need your help with something very important."

Declan's gaze shifted to Liena beside him, and his expression immediately changed in surprise.

"It seems to be something truly extraordinary. Come in, my friend Vitas, and Miss Gallipoli."

As soon as she sat down, Liena couldn't wait to ask her question.

Do you know me?

"The Duke's daughter, the eldest daughter of the Duchy, she's no ordinary person. It's perfectly normal for me to know her."

"Are you the wizard of our family's territory?"

"No, it's just that I know a bit about you and your father. It's perfectly normal for a wizard to know the highest ruler in the area."

"This seems to go beyond just having some level of awareness."

"Alright, stop asking about my affairs. Tell me about yours, Vitas. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Vitas withdrew his gaze and speculations, tried to calm himself down, and then explained his purpose.

After listening, Declan was surprised by Vitas's efficiency; he had found a new breakthrough so quickly.

"Theoretically, such a magic circle is possible because magic essentially uses the calls and responses of different entities and magical networks to change the world. However, this is not necessarily a consensus among wizards. In any case, such a well-concealed magic circle, created from the structure of various objects and rooms, does exist."

However, such a magic circle requires several times the energy and resources of a magic circle with the same effect, so no wizard would do it. Even for the sake of concealment, most wizards would choose to create another concealment magic circle instead of using such a troublesome and laborious method.

"Come on, let me see too."

Declan opened a portal, and the three returned to Elizabeth's house. As soon as they entered the room, Declan pinched his nose and said, "This smell is awful. I wonder what kind of person has the hobby of enjoying the night in a place like this."

"It's alright, I don't think the taste is particularly bad."

Vitas did not speak; he chose to remain silent.

Let me take a closer look.

Declan crouched down, searching for traces of magic.

Conventional magic circles are created by drawing different magical circuits using materials such as pigments that have magical conductivity, thus casting spells.

The basic principle of the magic circle hidden in this room is similar, but the circuit it draws is not on the surface, but deep inside. It then conducts through the structure between the rooms, the gaps in the walls and the floor, thus forming a beautiful magic circle.

This magic array is so deeply hidden and so secretly operated that it is almost a masterpiece.

"Interesting, very interesting. Did Viya do this? Could it be that Viya is truly an unexpected genius? I need to reassess this guy's abilities."

"You're getting a little too worked up, Declan. I hope you can maintain your composure as a wizard."

"Someone like you, who has no understanding of the beauty of arcane magic, naturally cannot accept this fact. Anyone with magical training can see how ingenious this design is. Alright, all of you, get out of my way. I'm activating this magic circle!"

Vitas heard Declan's words and for the first few seconds had no idea what the guy was going to do.

As his body rushed out to stop Declan before his consciousness could, he had already completed the analysis of the magic circle and infused it with magic power, causing everything around him to burst into a dazzling light.

Vitas's vision went white for a moment, and then the whole world reappeared before his eyes.

They were in a small study that looked a little unusual. The study had only two bookshelves filled with books, and around the bookshelves was a small bed.

"You wizards actually like living in places like this?"

"This should be Viya's temporary residence. Because of her collaboration with my teacher, the scale of her research and the size of her laboratory have been restricted. This is probably where she uses this place to circumvent her teacher's restrictions. This kind of place, which is similar to a safe, often keeps the most important things of a wizard."

"In other words..."

Vitas and Liena both knew what this meant.

"Looks like we're in luck. This is the best-case scenario. Sigh, if only we had found this place sooner. Of course, if we could have easily found out how and how to create the Viya monster, that would have been the best outcome."

As Declan spoke, he began to browse through the scattered books around him. Suddenly, he put down the book he was pulling out, and his expression became even more serious.

"Vitas, you seem to have something to say."

"That thing should be mine, right?"

Upon hearing this, Declan's eyes showed a rare hint of displeasure towards Vitas.

"This is not what I want to hear, Vitas. You are overstepping your bounds. I want this; it is determined by my thirst for knowledge and my very identity. And you, Vitas, a mere mortal, want to take away what I deserve?"

Liena looked astonished; she couldn't understand why the two of them had suddenly become so tense.

"Um, whatever kind of conflict you have, let's find what we need first. What exactly is this so-called Viya's legacy?"

"You can think of it as a kind of knowledge that wizards like, although it's not of much use to us."

Vitas answered coldly, and then Declan said in a rather mocking tone, "That's right, that's how it is, of course you idiots wouldn't know."

After saying that, he turned around again and began looking for useful books.

However, the fact that he dared to expose his back to Vitas shows that he was prepared to be attacked.

"Tsk."

Vitas had no other choice but to search together.

……

The towering spire of the mage.

Atop this colossal spire, hundreds of meters high, are approximately thirty large magic arrays used to maintain the normal existence of this enormous structure.

These magic arrays are maintained by an even greater amount of magical power, but this magical power does not originate from humans, but rather from naturally generated magical crystals.

After being processed and circulated through special magic arrays, this magical crystal can continuously generate new magic power, which is inexhaustible. The only problem is that this source of magic power is unstable and cannot be disturbed by external factors.

Of course, the owner of this spire does not need to worry about the giant magic circle on his spire being disturbed by the outside world.

Ultimately, who would dare to attack Drak's Mage Spire?

Draco sat at his lab table, on which sat a miniature human model.

He stared at the mannequin for a long time, and finally just let out a long sigh.

"Alistair is dead, which is good; his research was already outdated."

"Maximus died too? Who was he again? He wasn't some important student."

Draco muttered to himself.

"Could it be that Alistair and Maximus conspired to kill Via?"

Draco never imagined his daughter would leave him in this way, and he would never accept it.

"In that case, I have to go see for myself. Viya, you are my beloved daughter. But why did you do such a thing? It would be enough if you were just by my side."