After the brief clamor, silence returned to the open space surrounding the display hall. The wounded were carried one by one to the shelter of the colonnade, while those still capable of movement busied themselves distributing water and bandages. Most simply sat on the ground, gasping for air, having spent even the strength required to speak.
Hogg leaned against a relatively intact stone pillar, allowing a student from the warlock department to continue treating the wound on his back. Adrian stood a few paces away, flanked by Tyris and Fielding. The three hundred people he had brought had already fanned out to maintain a perimeter.
However, their condition was hardly better; many stood on trembling legs, held upright only by sheer willpower. A few lower-year students had simply sat down back-to-back on the ground, their eyelids too heavy to keep open.
Setis walked over to Hogg, her voice kept very low. “The rate of mana depletion is even faster than before.” She still clutched the now-dimmed peace talisman in her hand, her fingertips absentmindedly tracing the edges of the paper.
Hogg glanced at her but did not ask about the amulet’s origin, simply nodding.
“If this drags on any longer, we won’t need the enemy to kill us—we’ll collapse on our own.” Setis’s gaze swept over the pale faces around them. “My brother and the others can barely even stand, and Phil still hasn't woken up. There are two first-years over there already starting to get dizzy; it won’t be long before more people simply lose consciousness.”
Hearing their conversation, Adrian turned around.
“Royal Preceptor.” He paused, his tone returning to its usual composure. “Regarding this barrier—before entering, I sent men to map out the locations of all the mana nodes. The Mana-Devouring Barrier relies on seven nodes to function. As long as all these nodes are destroyed, the barrier will naturally collapse. Hector has already taken down three; there are four left.”
Tyris added from the side, “The locations are clearly marked. His Highness had me make three copies of the map before we entered.”
Hogg looked up at Adrian and remained silent for a breath.
“Seven nodes—are you certain the intelligence is accurate?”
“Certain.” Adrian met his gaze, speaking with absolute confidence. “There is no possibility of error in the source of this information.”
Hogg stared at him for a moment, then shifted his gaze to scan the surrounding teachers and students, some sitting and some lying down. Seeing his gaze sweep over them, several upper-year boys instinctively straightened their backs, but their trembling knees revealed that they were far from well. A female teacher leaned against her half-broken staff and gave him a bitter smile.
“How many people are still capable of fighting?” Hogg asked.
The question was like a stone dropped into a still pond. Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment, no one answered. After a brief silence, a boy wearing a fifth-year uniform was the first to raise his hand, followed by a few others. But the total count was barely twelve people. More than half were students below Rank 4, and only three teachers remained—the ice-element female teacher Setis had saved earlier, and two lecturers who had retreated from the library, one fire-element and one water-element, both around Rank 5.
Hogg looked at these dozen or so people and quickly made a decision.
“The wounded take priority. Not a single unconscious person is to be left behind; carry them all to the nearest teaching building for shelter. Leave a few people to guard the protective barrier of the display hall; if something happens, it can still hold for a while.”
He used his staff to push himself upright. His left arm still hung uselessly, but his tone had regained its usual decisiveness as he turned to Adrian.
“Mark the locations of the remaining four nodes. We don’t need many people—you, the three Rank 7 guards, Setis, and a few of the fastest students and teachers who can still move. Too many people will only slow us down.”
Adrian nodded and signaled Tyris to spread out the map. Hector and another Rank 7 warrior, Marcus—a burly middle-aged man with two short-handled battleaxes crossed on his back—also gathered around.
Setis was about to say she was going too, but Hogg looked at her first.
“You’re coming as well. We’ll talk about that amulet after this is over.”
Setis blinked in surprise, then nodded.
In the end, they assembled a group of sixteen—Hogg, Adrian, Tyris, Fielding, Hector, and Marcus, plus Setis, the ice-element teacher, and eight other students and lecturers who had volunteered. Their strengths ranged from Rank 3 to Rank 5; none exceeded Rank 5.
“Four nodes.” Hogg tapped the map twice with his finger. “The Second Prince and I will be one group, taking Tyris and Hector, starting from the eastern node. Marcus and Fielding will take the other group to the west. After clearing your respective targets, we rendezvous at the Main Gate Square.”
He folded the map and tucked it inside his robe, adding one last instruction: “Do not linger if you encounter resistance. Prioritize destroying the nodes. Is that understood?”
Everyone nodded.
“Let’s go.”
The process of clearing the first two nodes was unexpectedly smooth.
The first was hidden in a cellar behind the library. Tyris led the way through a flower garden that had been blasted beyond recognition, lifting a fallen iron plate to reveal stone steps leading down. The three Blood Moon Cultists who should have been guarding the node were already slumped on the ground, their staffs discarded. Their faces were grey, and they lacked even the strength to stand. Seeing people rush in, one of them feebly raised a hand to cast a spell, but only a wisp of blue smoke emerged from the tip of his staff before it fizzled out.
Hogg raised his hand and cast a 【Lightning Strike】, shattering the dark red magic crystal functioning at the center of the node. The moment the crystal shattered, the dark red glow enveloping the cellar flickered once and then died out.
“This is far too weak.” Setis looked at the cultists who couldn't even put up a fight, then looked at Hogg with uncertainty. “Were they hit by some kind of backlash?”
Hogg didn't answer. He simply frowned at the crystal shards on the ground before turning to head back up the stone steps.
The second node was in the boiler room behind the training building. The situation was almost identical to the first—several cultists guarding the node were collapsed on the floor, one already unconscious, while the others could barely keep their eyes open. Hector didn't wait for Hogg to act; he stepped forward and shattered the magic crystal with a single sword strike.
When the sixteen people reconvened at the main road intersection, Marcus, leading the western group, brought back similar news—the two nodes were almost entirely undefended, with the cultists stationed there either unconscious from exhaustion or unable to even grip their staffs.
“That’s six nodes.” Tyris wiped the sweat from his forehead, his tone carrying a hint of relief. “Including the three His Highness took down earlier, six out of seven nodes are broken. This barrier should be about to dissipate, shouldn't it?”
No one answered him. Setis looked up at the dark red light curtain overhead—it was still firmly in place, and the speed of its flow was even slightly faster than before. The patterns on the surface of the light curtain were no longer flowing slowly but were now faintly pulsing with a certain rhythm.
“Something’s not right,” she said. “The barrier should show obvious signs of weakening after the nodes are destroyed—even if it doesn't collapse, it should at least become thinner. But look at it; is there any difference from before?”
Everyone followed her gaze upward. The light curtain had not thinned, it had not faded, and even the flow of those dark red patterns had not slowed in the slightest. On the contrary, everyone simultaneously felt the mana in their bodies being siphoned away at a faster rate than before.
“It is indeed wrong,” Hogg said in a low voice. “Since we entered, have any of you seen a single Blood Moon Cultist collapse due to mana loss?”
That question silenced everyone. Setis thought back to those Rank 7 black-robed mages they had fought—their mana had been abundant from start to finish, and they had struck with ruthless abandon, showing no sign of having their mana drained by the barrier. She remembered what the fat mage had said—“materials.” From the very beginning, that term had never included their own people.
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