Death Wizard Diary.

Chapter 716 The Real Inner City

After casually leaving Claire in a deserted town, Thor straightened his clothes and prepared to head straight into the archaeological city of Stene.

The last time he came here, he accidentally discovered the upside-down tree and was chased away in a sorry state by a bunch of branches and roots.

"So this can be considered a triumphant return home, a triumphant homecoming. Exchanging a few branches from the upside-down tree shouldn't be an unreasonable request, right?"

There was no one here who could teleport Thor, so he followed the ordinary people into the outer city through the city gate.

This time he was careful to disguise himself, and the ordinary wizard apprentices guarding the city gate would definitely not recognize him.

However, when Thor sneaked into the outer city, he looked around and found that he didn't recognize a single person.

He had stayed here for more than half a year, but now the place has changed, and the people are different too.

Things have really changed.

Saul sighed and wandered around the outer city for half an hour, observing.

But after observing, he discovered a strange phenomenon.

There is only one entrance between the outer city and the inner city. This entrance is embedded in the mountain and is the only place without water among the waterfalls surrounding the inner city.

They probably entered the inner city through a passage inside the mountain.

However, the entrance gates were tightly closed, as if people were not allowed to enter or leave.

People were constantly coming and going near the passageway in the outer city, but no one went inside.

When Thor saw that no one had entered, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to sneak in.

"Then let's use the second option." Thor approached the waterfall and looked up at the water vapor in front of him.

The concentration of magical elements here is very high, but there is no magic circle to maintain it, which is obviously another kind of witchcraft tool newly developed in Archaeologist City.

Thor's figure suddenly became transparent, merging into the waterfall in front of him.

Because Thor was a stranger, several wizard apprentices in the outer city kept a close eye on his movements.

However, in an instant, all of them lost track of Thor.

Just as they realized someone was trying to break into the inner city and were about to report it, a silver butterfly suddenly appeared before them.

The butterfly fluttered and circled around each of them.

The apprentices suddenly forgot what they were supposed to be doing.

They looked at each other, wondering for a moment how they had ended up together.

Although they were puzzled, they quickly put their doubts aside because they had their own tasks to complete and dispersed again.

Thor had already flown into the air, waiting for the Nightmare Butterfly to return.

"Brother Thor, mission accomplished."

Thor retrieved Penny, thinking, "We can't take the normal route. The surrounding passages seem unprotected, but there are definitely traps inside. We could force our way through, but that upside-down tree is a bit strange. Before finding its core, it's best not to reveal our third-tier power, lest it escape."

Whether the upside-down tree escaped or hid deep in the earth, it was still very difficult for Thor to track it down.

Thor proceeded cautiously, avoiding any places that resembled traps or mechanisms, and making sure not to disturb the surrounding magical fluctuations.

It took him almost twenty minutes to crawl through the short distance of just over ten meters.

At the last moment before crossing the inner city's protective barrier, the resistance in Thor's face suddenly decreased, and he took a step forward, successfully arriving in the inner city.

However, when he saw the inner city, even Thor, who considered himself to be well-traveled, was stunned and stood there in shock.

The inner city of Archaeologists, the location of Bydon Academy, looked like the end of the world!

The once towering buildings and wide roads are now covered with a thick layer of dust.

The ground was littered with broken parts and collapsed buildings.

Although sunlight can penetrate the protective barrier above the city, it cannot change the gloomy tone of the place.

Thor took a step forward and stepped into the thick dust.

"This place... should be near the high-rise apartment I used to rent."

But looking around, there are no longer any buildings taller than ten stories. Most of them have become ruins or are simply wreckage lying on the ground.

"The magical fluctuations here are unusually chaotic." Penny couldn't help but pop out of her diary, circled Thor a few times, and took in the miserable scene around her. "Even if we cast spells directly, it won't attract anyone else's attention."

A black shadow emerged from Thor's chest and transformed into a young man.

He crossed his arms. "I seriously doubt there's anyone else here!"

Thor put his cloak back into his storage device, leaving only his more fitted black shirt and trousers.

He crouched down to examine the dust on the ground.

"The dust is thicker than a palm's width, and judging from its softness, almost no one has ever set foot here."

Thor took off again and landed on the top of the tallest building in the vicinity, standing on a steel bar that was sticking out.

Looking down at the earth from a high vantage point provides more information.

Not only in the vicinity, but throughout the entire inner city as far as the eye can see, there are no buildings taller than ten stories.

"The entire inner city has been turned into this state."

Herman flew alongside Thor, "It looked as if some violent force exploded in mid-air and destroyed the upper half of the city. The dust from the explosion covered all the buildings in the city with a layer of dust."

Thor nodded. "The question now is, when did the inner city become like this?"

Did the inner city become the ruins we see today due to an accident, or was it artificially divided into inner and outer cities after it became ruins?

Do the people in the outer city know that the inner city has become like this?

Where are the people who were originally in the inner city?

When Thor observed the outer city, he did not see any formal wizards; all the positions were held by wizard apprentices.

And they were all newcomers.

"Archaeologist, it seems that something truly terrible has happened at Bydon Academy."

Thor found no trace of the upside-down tree, and given the chaotic magical fluctuations within the inner city, he gave instructions to Penny and Herman, who were standing nearby.

"You split up and search the inner city to see if there are any survivors."

"Yes!" *2

The two of them went to explore separately, one on the left and one on the right.

Thor wasn't idle either. He jumped off the tall building, hovering half a meter above the ground, searching for possible survivors.

Or a corpse.

But after searching the ground floor and the stairwell for a long time, they couldn't find a single person.

However, I saw quite a lot of rotten food and dusty furniture.

Most of the homes were tidy, and there was no messy scene caused by people fleeing in disarray.

"People should evacuate in an orderly manner."

Saul squeezed through the window and saw several plates of food on the table that had turned green and black and were unrecognizable.

He then opened the storage cabinets and found them full of food and drinks. Some of the locked cabinets contained silver coins and banknotes unique to Archista.

"When they left, these people probably didn't know they wouldn't be coming back. Otherwise, they wouldn't have left behind even their necessities and money."

An hour later, Saul, Penny, and Herman met up again on the rooftop of a tall building near the city center.

"Have you found anything?" Saul asked them.

Herman shook his head. "It's like no one has ever lived here. There's not a single finger to be found."

Penny brought back good news.

"I didn't see anyone either; it's as if everyone here has vanished into thin air. However, I sensed active dreamscapes in the heart of the city."

Did you have a dream?

If there are dreams, then there must still be living people.

Thor immediately decided, "Let's go, we'll go to the city center!"

(End of this chapter)