Chapter 897: Friendly Fire
Before the underwater capacitor package mechanos spirits exploded,
above the sea surface of Subsea Area No.18.
Lonco and his two companions were still in an invisibility state.
“This appears to be some extraordinary artifact disguised by magic,” Benjamin Jelani said, staring at the magic screen before him.
The magic screen created by Clint “Windhawk” had breached the illusionary disguise of the Queen’s Barrier and to some extent, exposed the ‘Mental Illusion’ that Noland Lee had cast over the mechanos.
Out of the 1500 mechanos, Clint “Windhawk” had uncovered a few dozen.
...
They appeared on Clint “Windhawk’s” magic screen as blurry tiny white dots.
“Clint, can you detect the specific forms of these little things?” Benjamin asked.
“No.”
Clint “Windhawk” shook his head and responded in a hoarse voice:
“The spell disguising them left no energy fluctuation in the physical medium.”
Benjamin mused as he spoke:
“There are very few types of magic energy that do not propagate through a physical medium, mental energy being the most typical. The spell controlling and protecting these little things must be mental magic, and of the saint tier, at that.”
Benjamin looked toward Lonco who was intently watching the magic screen:
“I remember you saying that Noland Lee Jarvis has achieved a saint position in mental magic, right?”
“Yes, Your Excellency,” Lonco said respectfully:
“I have witnessed Noland Lee Jarvis’s methods. He should have mastered one to three saint-level mental magic spells. But he only presents himself as a First Rank Wizard openly, so I maintain doubts about whether he is hiding his true strength.”
“Who determined he was a First Rank Wizard?” Benjamin asked.
Lonco thought for a moment and said:
“His lecturer professor Erica Claudia, as well as my sister Selena, both confirmed him as a First Rank Wizard.
“The Deep Sea Branch also used a detection spell to test Noland Lee Jarvis’s level. The feedback from the detection spell showed that he indeed is a First Rank Wizard.”
Lonco paused for half a second before venturing his guess:
“I suspect that Noland Lee Jarvis used mental magic to interfere with the detection spell’s results.”
But Benjamin simply waved his hand and said:
“Impossible. The ‘Wizard Level Detection Technique’ has already been included in the Ascension Fortress. It possesses the feature ‘Immune to Interference.’ No spell can affect its detection results. However, this does not mean that Noland Lee Jarvis is indeed a First Rank Wizard.”
“What do you mean?” Lonco asked, somewhat confused.
If the ‘Wizard Level Detection Technique’ couldn’t be interfered with, then the detection results must be accurate.
Furthermore, didn’t that mean Noland Lee Jarvis is a First Rank Wizard?
But how could Benjamin then suggest that Noland Lee Jarvis might not necessarily be a First Rank Wizard…
“You don’t need to know too much, Lonco.”
Benjamin said coolly:
“Just because the ‘Wizard Level Detection Technique’ is immune to interference does not mean its results are accurate. There are many ways to cause it to yield incorrect data.”
Benjamin raised his right hand and pointed at the white dots moving on the magic screen:
“The saint-level mind magic protecting these things might have been cast by Noland Lee Jarvis himself or maybe not. That’s irrelevant.
“The drawback of mental magic is that it limits the accomplishments this branch of magic can have.
“Controlling dozens of unknown objects with mental magic at once would inevitably be a huge mental burden for Noland Lee. Even if he truly possessed saint-level skills in mental magic, there’s no way he could maintain it for long.”
No sooner had Benjamin finished speaking…
… a vast expanse of bright blue dots appeared on the magic screen.
There was no need for the three of them to painstakingly unveil the disguise of mental magic anymore.
With intense energy fluctuations, all the mysterious objects were stripped of their disguises.
Each one of them was like a mini-sun, emitting boundless blue radiance.
Before the three had a chance to closely examine these mysterious objects…
“Crackle!!!!!
Lightning burst forth thunderously!
This was followed by an immense thunderstorm and colossal tremors!
“Boom boom boom boom~~~~~”
The magic screen was completely taken over by the strong blue light, and the visage of the Queen’s Barrier was no longer visible! noveldrama
Lonco’s mouth gaped open in astonishment.
Benjamin’s body shook violently, becoming rigid.
Clint “Windhawk” let out an agonized scream, hurriedly closed the magic screen, and dissolved all the white currents extending into the seawater.
From the ignition of the lightning to the forced shutdown of the magic screen, it happened in no more than one second.
Everything happened so swiftly that it was completely unexpected.
As a result, including the combat wizards Benjamin and Clint, none of the three present managed to detect Noland’s intention on time, nor could they predict the sudden electrical explosion.
Clint “Windhawk” suffered the worst.
It was as though he was hit by magic backlash. The white fumes covering his body undulated violently, rolling and breaking like waves.
His cries of pain lasted several seconds before gradually subsiding, but his body continued to tremble uncontrollably.
“Heave… heave…” Clint “Windhawk” gasped heavily a few times, then growled angrily:
“Damn that medium vibration, the explosion nearly killed me!”
Compared with Clint “Windhawk’s” overly agitated response, Benjamin Jelani was eerily calm.
He stared for a long time where the magic screen had vanished, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke: