Fire Mage (Web Novel)

Chapter 542: Change of Plans

'What are those black pillars?' Charles furrowed his brows and soon shifted his gaze towards Ezra.

Even after Charles's arrival, he stayed next to the strange black pillar and continued to chant in a peculiar rhythm.

Meanwhile, Charles was stunned by his action and hurriedly cast [Burning Thoughts] spell on him.

But to his shock, nothing happened!

'What happened?'

He noticed a strange invisible layer enveloped the black pillar and blocked his spell from entering near it.

"A barrier?" He furrowed his brows, walked closer towards the strange invisible barrier, and soon stopped.

He then activated [Eyes of the Runes] and tried to find the weakness of this barrier. But even after looking at the strange barrier for a minute, he couldn't find a single flaw!

It was as if the whole barrier seemed to have been made of pure energy and mingled with nature itself.

'Do I have to use the forceful method?' He raised his hand and was about to cast [Finger of Destruction] spell on the barrier but suddenly paused.

At that moment, his [Prevision] skill triggered on its own and noticed him about the impending danger.

The next instant, an arc of eerie blackish ray came from the black pillar, passed through the strange barrier like it was nothing, and soon arrived before his head.

He didn't even have time to think of casting any defensive spell on himself.

Then, the strange ray entered deep into his head and disintegrated him into ashes!

...

A second later, Charles opened his eyes in the airship and cursed.

"Sh*t!"

He hurriedly cast [Accelerate Thoughts] skill on himself, dismissed the system's warning notification, and sent out an order.

'Genesis, connect to the 'Wisdom Link' and check if you can find any information about the strange black pillars in the Edhen World's exosphere.'

...

[Searching...]

[Connecting to the 'Wisdom Link'...]

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Connection failed!]

...

A row of notifications appeared in front of his eyes, followed by Genesis's strange synthetic voice.

[A foreign force blocked the system from obtaining the valid information from the 'Wisdom Link,' Host. It means that learning more about it will cause more harm to the user than good.]

'Another forbidden knowledge... It seems that black pillars are not something that belonged to this world. But what are they doing up in the exosphere? Do the Lawful Gods know about it?' He pondered for a second and soon shook his head.

'It doesn't matter. But what is that small black pillar doing in that mansion? What is Professor plotting? Wait. Is it the reason why the defensive array turned inactive? If so, I need to learn more about that black pillar and find a way to destroy it.' In truth, it was an effective method to ruin Professor's plan.

But Charles doesn't know how to break it yet.

'Let's see if I can break it in this timeline.' He muttered inwardly and waited.

...

24A Orchard House, Spruce Avenue, Fourth District, City of Miracles,

At that moment, a young man in his twenties suddenly opened his eyes in his bedroom and slammed his fist on the cotton bed.

"Damn it! I was about to complete the first array formula and activate it." Professor rubbed his temple and frowned.

"But how did he die?"

He hurriedly walked out of bed, went to the restroom, and washed his face. After that, he wiped his face using a towel and soon heard a vibratory sound from his silver bracelet.

He then took a deep breath and attended the communication call.

"Good morning, Professor. Should I tell Hayden to proceed with the plan?"

"Yes. Tell Hayden to finish it on time." He suddenly paused for a moment as he recalled something and asked.

"Who will be there to protect the 'Void Pillar' once Hayden leaves the mansion?"

"Ezra and a few mages from the Destiny Conquerors will be staying in the mansion, Professor."

"You mean those newly recruited mages of the Destiny Conquerors? They won't even stand a chance against that guy. Ask them to send a Destiny Conqueror to go over there for protecting the Void Pillar." Professor muttered in a grim tone.

"Which guy, Professor? What are you talking about?" John asked in puzzlement from the other side, but Professor sighed deeply and ordered.

"Don't ask unnecessary questions. Ask one of those sixteen old monsters to disguise as a normal Mage and go to the Dew Street mansion to guard the pillar. That person must go there in 15 minutes." He paused for a moment and then added.

"If some intruder tries to enter the building, tell him to capture the intruder at all cost. Also, warn him that the intruder can even cast 'Time-Stop' ability."

"But Destiny Conquerors main heads won't agree to do such guarding job, Professor. They always act arrogantly." John said from the other side in puzzlement.

Meanwhile, Professor sighed heavily and added.

"I know that. Ask Conqueror Brooks to do this job. As long as he completes this job, tell him that I will present him a Rank-8 Bone Dragon's skeleton body as a gift."

After saying so, he cut the communication call and sat on the bed.

"That guy is poking all the dangerous areas and getting killed. First, I should corner him using other forces and capture him alive in this vision. After that, I will have enough time to check which one of those 47 disruption arrays could break this 'Time Loop' spell."

"Moreover, I must find out his real identity."

This time, Professor decided to go after him and capture him at all costs.

While thinking, he took out a pocket watch from his space ring, opened the outer case, and checked the time.

"6.46. A.M."

'I only have 15 minutes to reach Dew Street.' Unfortunately, he was in Fourth District.

It would take at least half an hour for him to reach the Underground Street.

'I hope Conqueror Brooks will arrive there on time.'

Muttering inwardly, Professor changed his cloth into a black-robed one, took out a strange mask from his space ring, and wore it on his face.

Following that, he covered his head in a hood and soon walked out of his Orchard House. Then, he moved towards the carriage parked near his house lawn and ordered the coachman.

"Landon, go to Dew Street faster."

While ordering, he withdrew the curtain on the four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage and entered.

Meanwhile, the coachman Landon nodded his head, tied the horse with the carriage, and pulled the horse reins.

On the other hand, the black horse let out a loud neigh and ran towards the street road.

Before long, the carriage left Spruce Avenue, entered the Fourth District's main road, and soon moved towards the City Center.

That's where the three Magic Towers were located.

...

It was around 7.00 A.M.

Like the last time, a luxurious carriage slowly entered Dew Street and moved on the dirt road.

'Thankfully, this Dew Street is right next to the airport road. Otherwise, it would've taken ten more minutes for us to come here.' Charles muttered inwardly and followed the previous plan.

The luxurious carriage soon arrived near the four-storied mansion house, moved towards the opposite side of the road, and parked under a tree shadow in a few seconds.

Then, in Julius's appearance, Charles walked out of the carriage, acted suspiciously by looking at the mansion lawn, and drew the gatekeeper's attention.

A few seconds later, the gatekeeper moved closer to the carriage like last time, became Charles's puppet sooner, and walked into the carriage.

'Success!' Charles smiled lightly and walked in before locking the carriage door.

While Charles was shapeshifting inside the carriage, a black-hooded mage came from the opposite direction, said a few words towards the gatekeeper, and walked into the mansion building.

Unaware of the danger, Charles soon walked out of the carriage in gatekeeper Winston's appearance and adjusted his dress.

After that, he took a step forward, walked towards the mansion's entrance, and soon returned to Winston's position.