After fighting with Ariel for a while, Onick had completely fallen into a disadvantageous position.
Onick couldn't understand at all where this crazy woman had co from. But he had no way to deal with her whatsoever. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reverse his losing trend.
Until Emily tried to open the door but was thwarted, Onick's eyes revealed wild joy:
"The magic formation has taken effect! Let's retreat and regroup first, let them fight like cornered beasts!"
Using all his strength, Onick finally forced Ariel to retreat half a step, temporarily breaking free from her attacks.
Then, without hesitation, Onick turned around, shouted at the soldiers who could still move, and ran away without looking back.
"Hey!" Ariel angrily shouted from behind. "Don't run, coward!"
Onick pretended not to hear and vanished in an instant.
Concerned about Celitia behind her and Emily by the gate, Ariel didn't pursue.
She turned back and asked Celitia: "Are you alright?"
"Not even a hair was hard." Celitia shrugged.
Emily said urgently: "Co look at this door—what's going on?"
Celitia walked over, examined it carefully, and frowned slightly.
She looked up at the faint glow shrouding the air above and said in a low voice:
"It's a suppression formation that has surrounded the entire mansion. But is this sothing that existed in reality, or is it an illusion special?"
Back then, there was no scene of Onick appearing and declaring Sercis guilty of collaborating with the enemy and committing treason, so naturally no such formation was activated.
In the illusion, between truth and falsehood, Celitia could no longer distinguish clearly.
But none of this mattered.
Emily unwillingly patted the door again, was bounced back by the magic formation, and had to withdraw her hand:
"How can this be? Are we trapped?"
"Don't worry yet—"
As Celitia's words hit the ground, suddenly orderly footsteps ca from another direction.
Ariel imdiately reacted, standing in front of the two: "Who's there?!"
A tall figure slowly erged from the darkness. Moonlight illuminated his features—it was Sercis.
"You're in my ho, yet you turn around and question who I am. That's rather absurd, isn't it?"
Sercis raised his eyebrow slightly. "Your movents are quite sluggish too. I already gave you a head start, yet you still haven't escaped by now."
As soon as he opened his mouth and spoke those words, he received angry glares from all three people, including Celitia.
Only then did Celitia truly feel how annoying it was when that mouth was on soone else's body, whereas it was fine when it was on her own.
"Lord Sercis speaks well," Celitia said unhurriedly. "Soone sits in his own ho, yet is trapped by the magic formation in his own house.
A trusted brother cos to the door with weapons, wanting to arrest you on charges of 'collaborating with the enemy and committing treason'... Isn't that even more laughable?"
Sercis choked, blocked by Celitia's words to the point where he couldn't speak, his expression becoming quite colorful.
The two glared at each other, and for a mont, neither would give way to the other.
Emily finally found a chance to defend herself: "I didn't collaborate with the enemy!"
"Neither did I," Sercis innocently shrugged. "But they've prepared both witnesses and evidence, insisting we must confess."
"Witnesses and evidence?"
Celitia suddenly thought of sothing and snatched the cloth bundle from Emily's back.
Opening the package, Celitia carefully felt around and indeed found a hidden compartnt, then pulled out a letter from it.
Unfolding the letter, Celitia confird it was a letter written in imitation of Sercis's handwriting.
She frowned: "I see. Hide the information letter in the package given to Emily, then catch you in the act—no matter how many mouths you two have, you couldn't explain it away."
At this point, Sercis couldn't help but show a bitter smile:
"I really didn't expect Onick would do such a thing. It's my fault for poor judgnt of character. In any case, destroy this letter and break this formation, and I still have a chance to regain the initiative. It's quite embarrassing that the internal strife has dragged you into this. However, since it's co to this point, perhaps we can cooperate..."
Sercis looked at the three of them with a sincere expression, waiting for them to make a decision.
Emily didn't want to cooperate at all, her face full of opposition.
But she didn't express her stance, instead waiting for Celitia and Ariel's views.
Celitia smiled slightly, silently looking toward Ariel, giving her the choice.
"Cooperate?"
Ariel repeated the word. Initially sowhat hesitant, it gradually beca firm.
"Alright."
Hearing her answer, Celitia curved her lips slightly, finding it amusing.
These two people actually cooperating—wasn't this unprecedented?
In the past, Celitia would rather believe heaven and earth would flip, that pigs would climb trees, than believe these two would cooperate.
Even if this was just an illusion, it was strange enough.
"You helped once," Ariel continued, "and I'll help you once."
The slight smile on Celitia's lips faded sowhat.
So that's how it was.
This indeed fit Ariel's character perfectly.
Ariel couldn't willingly accept an enemy's pity and would definitely find ways to repay that debt.
Even in an illusion, it was the sa.
"I helped you?" Sercis looked confused. "Sorry, I don't rember such a thing."
Ariel said coldly: "You don't need to rember. I just need to know."
"Alright then. In any case, cooperation is established—congratulations."
Sercis didn't dwell on it, smiling at them.
"May I know your nas, beautiful ladies?"
"Ariel."
Ariel stared intently at him, wanting to observe his reaction from Sercis's expression.
Unfortunately, Sercis had no particular reaction, as if he'd never heard this na before.
"Hello, Miss Ariel." He said politely. "And this lady?"
He turned to look at Celitia.
Their gazes collided in mid-air, past and future eting strangely at this point.
Only, Celitia had once been Sercis.
But Sercis was not her.
mories froze in the distance for a long ti, while the person had already gained new life.
She smiled faintly, completely letting go: "Celitia."
Sercis nodded: "Well then, ti is pressing. We must act quickly."
Ariel wasn't very proficient in magic and frowned: "What exactly is this magic formation?"
"It's a suppression formation," Celitia answered. "Within the magic formation's range, people's magic power and fighting spirit, as well as strength and speed, will all be suppressed. As ti passes, its effects will beco stronger and stronger."
Sercis was slightly surprised and said approvingly: "Miss Celitia looks very young but knows quite a lot."
Receiving his praise, Celitia only rolled her eyes.
To her, Sercis could only be considered a young hothead—when did it beco his turn to evaluate her in such an old-fashioned way?
The more she looked at her past "self," the more she felt it was all embarrassing history.
Celitia was extrely displeased and snorted coldly through her nose:
"Mr. Sercis flatters . It seems you're also quite familiar with this magic formation. Why don't you tell us how we should break it?"
Sercis coughed lightly:
"Well, naturally we need to find the cores of the magic formation and destroy them all. As for where the cores are, we still need to search for them."
"Isn't that stating the obvious?" Celitia's eyelid twitched. "If you don't know, you can just say so directly!"
Most of the more obscure magical knowledge, Sercis had supplented gradually later on.
It was normal for him not to know at his current young age.
But this guy insisted on putting on an air of confidence.
Indeed, to beco a qualified leader, one must never lose in terms of montum.
Even if one didn't fully understand, at critical monts one had to reassure people's hearts.
She understood all the reasoning, but why was he putting on airs in front of her?!
Looking at Sercis, Celitia found him as displeasing as possible.
Ariel was slightly surprised and whispered in Celitia's ear: "You dislike him too?"
Earlier, seeing Celitia speak up for Sercis, Ariel had thought Celitia had quite favorable feelings toward him.
Now it seed that wasn't the case.
Ariel inexplicably felt relieved and even developed a sense of shared hatred.
Celitia said irritably: "Seeing him pretend to understand when he doesn't just annoys !"
This was exactly how embarrassing history was troubleso!
Being pointed at and scolded to his face, Sercis didn't get angry: "Then, what suggestions does Miss Celitia have?"
Celitia took a deep breath, squeezed out so patience, and answered:
"This suppression formation has a total of five cores—four located at the four corners and the last one in the center. As long as we find them and destroy them one by one, we can completely break this magic formation."
"Sounds quite complex," Ariel pondered. "This formation shouldn't be sothing that could be constructed in a short ti."
Celitia nodded: "Indeed, this magic formation is very complex. The little ti Onick had when he burst in just now was completely insufficient to complete it."
"So you set it up in advance?" Emily was quite confused. "Why would you build a magic formation in your ho that restricts yourself?"
"This isn't my ho, but a temporary residence." Sercis smiled bitterly. "As for the magic formation, it was probably left behind by Earl Bell."
Celitia fell silent.
Perhaps, although Earl Bell had actively given Sercis his appointnt, as his reputation rose, he inevitably gradually developed suspicions.
But at that ti, the contradictions hadn't surfaced but were hidden beneath, so she hadn't known about it.
"In any case," Sercis quickly set aside his distracting thoughts, "let's hurry and search for the cores to break this formation as soon as possible."
Celitia also withdrew her thoughts: "I can roughly guess where the cores are. This ti, follow my command."
Sercis organized his guard unit, dividing them into two teams to clear out the soldiers Onick had brought, first clearing a wave of obstacles for them.
"Those people who burst in are also in the magic formation," Emily asked. "Won't they be affected?"
"They might have prepared immunity runes in advance," Sercis patiently explained. "They can temporarily avoid being affected."
"I see," Emily nodded thoughtfully. "Then do we have any way to get the sa runes?"
"Mm... theoretically it's possible, but that usually requires advance preparation, and one needs to know the magic formation's formula composition and operation to make them specifically."
The two's question and answer was surprisingly harmonious.
Listening to them, Celitia and Ariel felt particularly uncomfortable.
It didn't seem like future sworn enemies at all—people would believe it if you said they were teacher and student.
Better to end all this quickly.
Thinking this, Celitia had already discovered the first core's location and pointed in a direction:
"Look over there. They're quite considerate, deliberately leaving so many people to guard it, as if afraid we wouldn't know this is the core."
"Very good, then let's quickly deal with them." Sercis imdiately made the decision. "Ariel and I will coordinate to handle the enemies, Miss Celitia will destroy the core, and Emily will protect her."
In just a few sentences, Sercis had arranged everyone's tasks—swift and decisive, with clear division of labor.
Fighting alongside Sercis?
Ariel had never dread she would have such a day.
Before she could recover from that strange feeling, Sercis had already charged forward.
Ariel's competitive spirit rose—how could she fall behind Sercis? She stepped forward and quickly caught up with him.
Celitia stood in the rear, watching their backs with a smile.
Wasn't this also a wonderful experience?
If not for opposing positions, perhaps they would have had the chance to beco comrades who could entrust their backs to each other.
Let's try it once in this illusion.
"They have few people, don't panic! Fight around the defensive magic, hold them off and wait for reinforcents!"
The soldiers responsible for guarding the core shouted hoarsely, trying to steady morale.
Then, an enlarged fist flew toward his chest, striking him so hard he coughed blood and flew out like a kite with a broken string.
Sercis showed no rcy either, drawing his long sword. The bright blade was instantly stained with blood.
The defensive magic's glow flickered, lasting only a few seconds before completely extinguishing.
The two quickly dealt with their enemies and regrouped.
Emily kicked away a soldier who had gotten up to flee, protecting Celitia as they approached the formation core.
Outside the core was a defensive magic glowing with deep yellow light for protection. Only the flickering runes inside could be vaguely seen.
"We need to break this defensive magic first—"
Before Celitia could finish speaking, she saw Ariel raise her fist and punch the magic barrier hard.
As if striking an eggshell, dense cracks appeared on the magic barrier's surface, then it shattered with a crash.
Celitia: "..."
Truly worthy of the violent saintess—this was called overwhelming ten techniques with one force?
Sercis's mouth twitched slightly: "Miss Ariel's strength... no, martial skills are truly admirable."
Celitia quietly rolled her eyes.
You wanted to say she was violent, right?
She heard what you hurriedly took back!
But indeed, that was a full-force punch. If it hit soone's head, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Let take a look."
Celitia bent down, getting close to the formation core.
"Mm, the defensive magic is removed, but there's actually still protection set within the formation—quite cautious indeed…
…But this can't stump ."
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