Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 148 Ants

"It's so hot!"

Dalton wiped the sweat from his brow.

For some reason, after I started digging again, I felt it getting hotter and hotter.

Sweating increased dramatically.

"What's going on? Why is it suddenly so hot?"

Buck shouted, guessing, "Could it be that we've dug near a volcano?"

"What should we do then? Change direction?"

Dijon was also quite hot and asked anxiously.

"Boss, what do we do?"

Unlike the other three, Lynn didn't make a fuss; instead, he sought Link's instructions.

This matter is quite strange.

The faction quest notification was completed not long before it suddenly got hot.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would find it hard to believe that there is no connection between the two.

Moreover, Lynn clearly remembered that the only variable in the third ecosystem reconstruction experiment, which the big boss was focusing on, was temperature.

Getting hot means that the temperature is rising unless someone roasts it with fire.

Therefore, Lynn was certain that the one who completed the faction mission must be a big shot.

After all, when leaving the underground laboratory and tunnels on the sandbar in the middle of the river.

The big boss made sure everyone left early, but he himself didn't arrive at the riverbank until more than two hours later.

There must have been some backup plan in place.

These are Lynn's speculations, and of course he couldn't say them outright.

Lynn then asked the question in a vague and general way.

His question wasn't actually about the heatwave, but rather about the increasingly indifferent attitude of the Munro team.

And the fickle Iris Clark, and her team.

Lynn was especially wary of Iris.

Often, it's not that we're afraid of people who are shrewd and calculating, but rather that we're afraid of people who are prone to acting impulsively and going to extremes.

Lynn was unsure of his boss's attitude towards Iris and Monroe, as well as their team.

Therefore, he spoke up, asking in a veiled manner.

"Do whatever you have to do."

Link glanced at Lanny Taylor, who had fallen silent after receiving the notification from her watch, and gave a seemingly pointless reply.

Lynn immediately understood.

We should cooperate when we can, and fight when we fall out.

He nodded and gave Buck and Dalton a look.

The group immediately understood and quietly raised their security level.

Socially anxious groups are following suit.

Actually, Link was more wary of Lanny Taylor than Iris and Monroe.

At most, Iris and Monroe have had a public falling out, a conflict, and a head-on clash.

If Lani betrays me at a crucial moment, that would be bad news.

"Don't worry, I mean what I say."

Lanny noticed that Link was looking at her with a meaningful gaze. She quickly figured out why and said something to express her opinion.

She didn't show any particular firmness in her stance.

Moreover, the wording is rather vague and ambiguous.

Generally speaking, such statements are deceptive and should not be believed.

Link believed it.

They remained wary of Lanny, but she was now prioritized over Monroe, second only to Iris.

"What exactly have you been doing?"

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Iris, unable to contain herself any longer, abruptly turned and strode towards Link, yelling, "Why is it suddenly so hot? I hate the heat! Did you do something?"

Link replied nonchalantly, "What does that have to do with me?"

You know the truth in your heart.

Iris's face contorted in a manic expression, giving the impression that she was about to explode. "Don't think that just because you've denied it, it's all over. Nobody's a fool; you can't fool them!"

Link said seriously, "I've never taken anyone for a fool, but I genuinely didn't know."

"snort!"

Iris glared at Link, then forced back her inexplicable anger, walked over to her team members, and shouted, "Hurry up and dig! Don't let us end up roasted to death before we even escape!"

Fortunately, she was only emotionally unstable and did not lose her mind or have a manic episode.

Even in anger, he remained restrained.

Monroe, who had remained silent since the tunnel was dug again, chimed in, "Let's do it together."

The two groups immediately changed the direction of the tunnel, from an upward arc to a diagonal upward cut.

"Link, what about us?"

Upon seeing this, Jasmine, who was in charge of the tunnel excavation project, asked Link for his opinion.

"Be like them, be with them."

Link did not stick to the original plan and insisted on continuing to dig forward.

Instead, they adapted to the situation and chose to return to the ground ahead of schedule.

As the temperature rises, if we stay underground any longer, we could very well be roasted to a crisp.

"it is good."

Jasmine responded and immediately led her team to change their digging route.

The groups that had grown apart joined hands again.

The cooperation remains seamless, and we can still work together effectively.

But there was no more idle talk, only tranquility and silence.

on the ground.

Intermontane basin.

The "Pureblood Will" team successfully entered the basin, quickly seized advantageous terrain, and began their search.

The opposing teams, which were advancing at a faster pace, also arrived at the outer edge of the basin.

After searching for a long time, "Pureblood Will" found not a single person, except for a few abandoned fortifications, tunnels, and trenches.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"How could there be no one here?"

"Keep searching! Keep looking!"

"Even if they have to search high and low, find them!"

Paley Percival lost his temper and roared wildly, appearing almost insane.

They rushed over as soon as they received the news.

They also discovered that someone was blocking Link Grand's escape route.

Link Grande has no way to escape.

How could we not find anyone?

Pare was so angry that he nearly lost his mind.

However, a sentence he uttered in a fit of rage, rather than in calm reflection, awakened Luna Colonna.

"So they hid underground."

Looking at the ruins of the collapsed concealed fortifications, Luna Colonna smirked. "I'd like to see just how good you are at digging tunnels."

As she spoke, Luna called over a few of her "subordinates" and ordered, "Blow this place up, blow it as deep as you can into the ground."

"Yes."

The subordinates obeyed orders unconditionally without asking why.

They immediately took action and, based on the calculations, deployed time-delayed self-destructing mines.

However, before the explosion could be detonated, the personnel on the perimeter reported that they were surrounded by several opposing teams.

It disrupted all of the "Pureblood Will's" actions.

"What?"

Paley Percyville roared,

"What do you mean we're surrounded? Translate this for me, what the hell do you mean we're surrounded? Who the hell dares to surround us?"

"Calm down, Paletre."

From receiving the news, through the forced march, to receiving notification that the mission was complete from the opposing side, and then entering the mountain basin, Nash Jensen, who had remained silent throughout, finally couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward to rebuke Palle Percival:

"Have you completely lost your mind? If you continue like this, not only will it not help, but it will also seriously damage the reputation of the Percyville family!"

"I……"

Paley Percival's eyes widened, bulging outwards. He hadn't heard a word and was already too angry to speak. He opened his mouth to retort.

With a snap.

Nash Jensen immediately used a Water Ball to hit Pallet in the face, cooling him down.

"you……"

pat.

"屮!"

pat.

Three times in a row.

Just as Pallet opened his mouth, Nash Jensen threw a water balloon at his face.

"Have you calmed down yet?"

Ignoring Palley's angry glare, Nash coldly said, "If you're still not calm, I'll switch to hockey to make you calmer."

Palley took a deep breath and forced down his anger at Nash's rude behavior.

If it weren't for the fact that she was pursuing Nash's sister, Pallet wouldn't have tolerated Nash repeatedly contradicting her.

"It seems you've calmed down."

Nash said indifferently, "Now that we've calmed down, let's think carefully about whether searching for Link Grand is more important, or dealing with the enemy's encirclement."

"None of that matters anymore!"

Luna Colonna emerged from the abandoned underground fortifications, her brow furrowed and her expression grave. "Take a good look at the temperature," she said. "Something's not right."

"Um?"

Nash asked in confusion, then carefully sensed and compared the readings before concluding, "It is indeed heating up, and the rate of heating up is extremely fast."

As he spoke, a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Something's wrong, something must have happened!"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Nash's expression grew increasingly serious. "And it's definitely related to the faction mission that was completed. Let's halt all operations and gather everyone together first."

There were no fires nearby, and no level 1 magical artifact could raise the temperature over such a large area.

Of all the recent events, only the completion of the mission by the good side could have had such a significant impact.

Nash readily connected the rising temperatures to it.

This matter must be addressed as a priority.

After all, people really can die from the heat!

If you don't die in battle but instead die from the heat, that won't look very good.

Unexpectedly, and with the situation urgent, Palie no longer acted willfully or threw a tantrum.

Instead, they did their best to cooperate with Nash and Luna, gathering all the members of "Pureblood Will" together.

In order to prepare for possible major changes.

They organized the members to take turns using water-based magic to cool everyone down.

Across the river.

The effeminate men, the fair-skinned fat men, the icy women, and the burly men were all too hot to "hide" any longer.

They all rushed from their hiding places to the riverbank to cool off.

The outer edge of the basin.

The opposing teams, who had just formed an encirclement, were forced to halt their further actions.

It's impossible to launch another attack.

They seem to be barely surviving only by using various methods to cool them down.

other places.

The same applies to all other teams, without exception.

Because temperatures are rising synchronously and rapidly everywhere in the world!

Every surviving wizard apprentice felt the change in temperature.

The rhythm of everything was disrupted by the dramatic changes.

Link and his crew finally managed to dig a tunnel to the surface, only to find that the situation had not improved.

The surface temperature is not much lower than that underground.

"It's so hot! It's so hot!"

Buck wanted to test just how hot the ground was, so he recklessly took off one boot and touched the ground with his bare foot.

He immediately jumped up from the heat.

Like ants on a hot pan, running around in circles.

"If the temperature keeps rising like this, people will die from the heat."

Buck howled.

It's as if he has a jinxed mouth.

In a very short time, the temperature rose from unbearably hot to extremely high temperatures that were completely unsuitable for human survival.

The watches on everyone's wrists vibrated again.

College notice:

The positive side won the faction battle.

Just when I was wondering why this notification had come out of nowhere.

Hundreds of white beams descended from the sky.

All wizard apprentices were moved out of this world.

All the calculations came to naught.

In the boundless sea of ​​stars.

A huge, brightly colored portal stands in the vast vacuum.

Above the vast, plaza-like base of the gate, there are more than four hundred clusters of light.

Each ball of light contained a rejected apprentice, some covered in dust, some with missing limbs, and some with large holes in their chest or abdomen.

There are many different situations.

The only thing they had in common was that they both remained rational, watching everything happening in the "world" through a giant screen.

Hundreds of white beams were projected from the giant screen.

Hundreds of light clusters suddenly appeared on the base of the light gate.

Having dispelled his discomfort, Link immediately looked around to make sure the environment was safe.

Then I took a closer look at the latest notification on my watch.

Then, they turned their attention to the giant screen to observe the changes in the "world".

The flow of time in the "world" seems to have accelerated.

Link felt like he was watching a video at double speed, with the "plot" unfolding at breakneck speed.

He saw,

The effects of the sudden rise in temperature have spread throughout the world.

The water source is drying up at a visible rate.

The plants became wilted and listless.

Giant carnivorous animals were the first to succumb to the high temperatures and lose moisture, rushing to the riverbanks and lakes to drink frantically in an attempt to quench their thirst and cool down.

Many giant beasts perished along the way.

They either died of thirst or died fighting each other.

The water shortage is getting worse.

Vast areas of plants died.

Herbivores, lacking food, collapsed in droves.

Small carnivores lost their food source and became a food source for medium-sized carnivores.

Large carnivores began hunting medium-sized carnivores regardless of the risk of injury or death.

The giant carnivore was so hungry and thirsty that it could not move and could only wait to die.

The destruction of the "world" is imminent.

Link's feelings suddenly became incredibly complicated.

Even though he always felt a sense of alienation and could never fully integrate into the wizarding world.

The impact of killing on him seemed no different from that of killing characters in a game he played in his previous life.

But to witness firsthand how a "world," even one on the verge of destruction, is accelerated toward destruction because of one's own plans.

This feeling is hard to describe in words.

Link no longer felt the smug satisfaction of completing two main quests in a row.

The origin of the world.

There was no "live broadcast" option on the giant screen.

The jade-like luster of the killer's bones gradually faded, and they were about to revert to their withered, skeletal state before awakening.

The furnace that drives the god-slaying sword to scorch the very essence of the world is a considerable burden for the god-slayer.

Especially since there was a worm deeply bound to the origin of the world nearby, which was generously using its remaining divine power and the life force transformed from the source power accumulated over a thousand years to fight against the scorching furnace.

This undoubtedly increased the drain on the god-killer's resources.

However, the god-slayer doesn't care about these costs.

He never actively pursued power.

Until hundreds of beams of white light descended from the sky, taking away all the visitors from other worlds.

The two flames flickering in the killer's eye sockets suddenly paused.

A moment later, the flames resumed flickering.

The god-killer slowly raised his head and looked up at the sky.

He seemed to see two golden eyes, about the same size as this world at its peak.

Indifferent and heartless eyes.

At this moment, the god-killer truly awakens.

Given his character, how could he easily trust a visitor from another world and carry out a so-called "destructive rescue" plan?

He seemed to have been given the implicit suggestion that as long as the logic was consistent, it could be fully adopted.

So, my thoughts were being manipulated.

The god-slayer, upon meeting the enormous golden eyes, felt as if he had turned back into an ant.

Ants that can be manipulated and crushed at will.

And his "existence" is manipulated in the same way as those of the gods of the past.

Indifferent and heartless, watching countless lives perish.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The insect deity broke free of its restraints and let out a harsh, sarcastic laugh: "You and I are both ants."

The Godslayer waved his hand, and the Godslayer Sword, which was in its furnace state, automatically transformed into pure black wings, carrying the Godslayer into the sky.

Ants can be fooled, they can be crushed.

But you must make a sound before you die.

I'll post two chapters today. Chapter 38 might be added later today, or maybe tomorrow. I originally wrote a Don Quixote-style charge scene, but after careful consideration, I think it doesn't fit. Okay, that's all. Thank you for your continued support, readers.

(End of this chapter)