"Have you all lost sight of who you are!? Before becoming magic-users, we were all members of the nobility in the Sika Empire!" Will bellowed.

Beck and company exchanged glances and fell into a contemplative silence.

They could relate to Will's predicament, knowing full well how distressing it was to feel as if one had plummeted from the heights of paradise into the pits of hell.

Just as the silence was starting to feel oppressive, Lynn suddenly spoke up. "Do you not fathom, Will? That the Holy See would never alter its stance towards us due to our status so even if you change your allegiance now it is all for naught"

As a monotheistic faith, what is the most fundamental doctrine of the Holy See?

Why, the doctrine of creationism, of course!

Legend has it that the deity [Ella] brought all things into existence and descended to earth with the gift of life-giving ambrosia, infusing the previously barren and desolate land with verdancy. It is for this reason that all people are expected to submit to the Holy See's rule.

In the meantime, mages who sought to unravel the patterns by which the world turns and draw strength from them became the bitterest of enemies to the Holy See.

For this was an effort to shake the very cornerstone of divine sovereignty!

"This is different!" Will exclaimed, his eyes fixed upon the assemblage and seeming to be in a frenzy. "Aubrey, Karl, Beck, and Batun, the Holy See's true objective isn't us. If we sincerely repent, Archbishop Anthruk and Duke Nordland will assuredly absolve our sins!"

"You've gone mad, Will!" Aubrey exhaled. "Since we chose to become wizards, the option of turning back was no longer possible!"

Once they opted to become wizards, magic would forever course through their veins, a token of demonic evil and disgrace in the Sika Empire.

If the Earl of Eisk were to learn that his second son had become a wizard, his initial reaction would be to disassociate himself as much as possible and banish Will from the family...

In other words, they could never revert to their former way of life...

"I'm not mad! I know precisely what I'm doing!" Will said with a frigid grin. His right hand suddenly delved into the pocket of his robe and withdrew several magic stones, which he scattered unexpectedly towards Aubrey and the others.

"Aubrey careful!" Dove screamed with alarm, her ethereal sight enabling her to discern that each of the magic stones bore an inconspicuous glyph.

As the Dove's cry echoed, several of the magic stones detonated in midair, showering down a deluge of sharp shards like a swarm of locusts...

The silver-haired sorceress remained impassive, her right hand lifting as she plucked a staccato of notes upon her slender-fingered gloves, the runes thereupon aglow.

A faint spark materialized at the tip of her digit, swiftly expanding into a shooting star and instantaneously engulfing everything before her in a blistering tongue of flame within the space of a second!

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This was none other than a first-ring magic spell - [Flame's Touch]!

As Will tossed out the magic stones, he had already plotted his escape route, rolling clumsily to avoid the searing flames before making to jump out the open window.

But Lynn moved even more swiftly, a diamond-shaped ice blade hurtling forward and impaling Will's ankle straight through, causing his body to lose balance and topple to the ground.

Piercing coldness ascended from his ankle, numbing Will's right leg and causing him to lean against the wall in a state of panic. Before he could utter a word, a slender [Magic Missile] hurtled past and exploded in his eye socket.

A deluge of scarlet blood, mixed with brain matter, cascaded onto the wooden floor, dyeing it a sinister shade of red. Lynn spun on his heel, facing the opposite direction, as Aubrey exclaimed in disbelief, "What are you doing, Dove?"

She had intentionally weakened the power of Flame's Touch in order to interrogate Will for information.

"There's no time to interrogate him!" Dove shrieked, her hands clasped around her head in terror. "There are at least a hundred soldiers outside, we're surrounded!"

Upon hearing this, Aubrey sprinted to the window and illuminated the darkness with a fireball spell. From afar, Lynn could see groups of soldiers donned in armor, armed with shield, swords, lances and crossbows, silently marching through the dense forest towards their location.

The leader, brandishing a scepter and garbed in a white, gilded robe, locked gazes with Lynn from several hundred meters away in the reflection of the flames.

"It's Archbishop Anthruk! We're doomed, we're going to meet our demise!" Batun recognized him at a glance and fell into despair.

He hadn't expected that in order to capture a few apprentice wizards, the Archbishop of Nordland would personally take action.

Lynn gazed upon the dim alchemy array on the ground. They should have stopped the spell from being activated just now, which means...

Everyone's gaze turned to Dove simultaneously.

"It wasn't me... it wasn't me who did it!" The thirteen or fourteen year old girl frantically shook her head, her face full of panicked uncertainty.

The chaotic situation on the scene and the impending pursuit of the Holy See made Aubrey, who was already on edge, feel a dizziness in his head. She bit her lips to forcibly calm herself and spoke in a heavy voice.

"Listen, things aren't as dire as they seem. There's a wide drainage ditch in the basement of this manor that leads directly to the river outside. We can escape through there!"

As she spoke, Aubrey turned her head and begged Lynn to watch Dove with pleading eyes. She no longer knew who she could trust.

A minute ago, in the dense forest outside of Uer Town, hundreds of uniformed soldiers were slowly advancing under the cover of the trees.

Aaron, the pastor accompanying the army, looked at the distant castle in confusion and asked, "Archbishop Anthruk, according to the previously established plan, shouldn't we wait for these wizard apprentices to arrive in the harbor town before taking action?"

For the "Caged Bird" plan, they had mobilized a large number of people to monitor the entire town of Uer, prepared to use these wizard apprentices to ferret out the sinners who had abandoned their faith in God throughout Nordland and send them to hell together.

Now that they were taking the initiative to attack, it was undoubtedly destroying all their previous efforts.

"Aaron, a qualified hunter must not only learn how to set up elaborate traps, but also know how to seize the moment to catch the prey," Anthruk responded in a deep voice. "A sturdy iron cage may be able to imprison a clumsy bird, but if a griffon gets mixed in, it can break free from the cage and tear the hunter to pieces..."

"Remember, excessive greed will only cause you to lose everything in your grasp."

The essence of the "Caged Bird" plan's success was that they had absolute control, and no matter how these wizard apprentices squirmed, they would not be able to escape the net they had laid.

However, the death of Brenny had made Anthruk uneasy and suspects that among Kelu's apprentices, there might be a formal wizard, completely disrupting his arrangements.

Anthruk, who had dealt with the followers of these demons countless times, was well aware of how difficult formal wizards were to deal with. Their sorcery was varied and unpredictable, and a moment of carelessness could easily lead to their demise.

During the capture of Kelu, if it had not been for him deliberately staying behind to cover an apprentice's escape, capturing him would not have been an easy task.