"We shouldn't delay any longer. Reed and the others are in danger. When do we set off?"

Cyra was raring to go.

"Don't rush ahead. This is not so simple!"

I glanced at her and quickly asked Elara,

"The key is, how can our rescue team get to the Dark Continent?"

Given the current situation, going through the space swap was not going to work. Not only was it uncertain whether we could contact Reed who could operate the device, but even if we did exchange back to the Dark Continent, Reed and the others would simultaneously switch back here. Then the rescuers would be left on the Dark Continent side.

"I have my solutions for this problem. You'll know in due time. But it requires some preparation. I'm already urging my team to speed things up."

Elara left us hanging, paused for a moment, then continued speaking to me,

"In the meantime, I'm also gathering hands from among the survivors. After all, we're going to the Dark Continent for a rescue, so we have to be fully prepared. But Edenmere has just gone through a great disaster, and there are not many combatants left. So you and Nicola will probably need to come along too."

"Of course, not to mention this concerns rescuing Reed, we're duty-bound to go!"

Nicola and I agreed without hesitation. But the other party suddenly glanced at Cyra by my side and arranged with a frown,

"As for Cyra, you can't even fly now, so be good and stay in the city to recuperate!"

"I want to rescue Reed myself!"

Cyra hesitated for a moment, uncharacteristically mustering the courage to oppose Elara's decision.

"Although I only have two wings now, I can cast intermediate magic. That's also very powerful against monsters."

"But it'll be difficult since you can't fly..." I couldn't help but advise.

It was clear she was quite enthusiastic about the rescue, understandably since it concerned Reed's safety. But at the same time, it was clear this expedition was no child's play. Going to the Dark Continent with injured wings was pure suicide.

"It's alright, I can carry you and fly together!"

Nicola probably also felt moved by her enthusiasm and unexpectedly chimed in with nonsense.

"No way? Even if you're strong, carrying someone and..."

I still felt it inappropriate, but Nicola cut off the rest of my words and made a firm decision.

"That's settled then! You guys know ordinary monsters are no match for me now, especially after mastering my new moves. I feel much stronger. Maybe one hand will be enough!"

"I know you're all anxious to rescue Reed. I'm equally anxious too. But before the preparations are complete, none of us have any solutions. Let's wait patiently for now..."

Seeing our state, Elara helplessly placated us. She didn't insist further on Cyra's participation. Then she stood up and walked to the door.

"Speaking of which, there's another matter I need Nicola's help. Perhaps you all can lend a hand too. So come with me!"

"What matter?"

I was puzzled by her words. Elara led us out of the office and walked down the corridor. After reaching the stairs that had gone unused for millennia, she went down several floors and came directly to the basement.

"What the hell is this place?"

Cyra gasped. After leaving the stairwell, what waited before us was an iron bar gate, guarded by two six-winged angels.

Beyond the gate was a dimly lit corridor with a few torches hastily hammered into the walls. The lavish decorations of the upper floors were gone. Or rather, there were no decorations at all! Besides the fairly even floor, it was practically bare walls and ceiling throughout.

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We had been in Edenmere for so long, living in Tivi Palace for over half a month. Going between floors, we always flew in through the windows. We never knew such a place existed downstairs if you took the stairs.

"Lady Elara!"

The two six-winged angel guards saw us and immediately knelt.

"Open the door! Where is Mia? Has she completed the task I assigned? Is she still inside?"

In a moment, Elara's demeanour completely changed into one of great authority as she inquired.

"Mia has completed and activated the magic array. And she hasn't left yet..."

The two guards respectfully answered. Without hesitation, one of them immediately opened the iron bar gate for us to enter.

"Mia? Isn't that the exchange student who studied magic arrays with Reed?"

Cyra instantly recalled the name.

"That's right."

Nicola nodded.

"When Edenmere was exchanged to the Dark Continent, she stayed with us at the arena. But later she was injured by Yvonne and the other conservative angels when protecting Reed. So after we occupied Central Island in the lake district, Reed had her come back with me. I didn't expect that after recovering, she would be assigned here."

"She is one of my most trusted assistants, and apart from Reed, the most proficient with magic arrays in all of Edenmere. Fortunately, she didn't meet with any mishaps during this upheaval."

Elara smiled and explained as she heard their conversation.

"This is the underground prison, built very long ago, probably thousands of years ago and has been empty all this time. Until the recent monster invasion, Nicola and others brought back many captives and it was hastily put into use."

"Captives?"

Listening to Elara's introduction, we walked forward into the passage. This corridor felt extremely long, seemingly endless when looking ahead. Further in the distance, it was pitch black without even a torch.

"You mean those conservative angels were brought here?"

Nicola immediately realized who these captives were, her expression changing in an instant.

"Wait! Didn't I already instruct you? Don't release them from the magic cage!"

"I understand your meaning. But we can't keep imprisoning those traitors in such a confined space forever, can we? From what I know, not only does that magic cage prevent any energy from leaking out, but it also can't exchange air with the outside. And it's only about the size of a carriage, so keeping them in there would surely suffocate them to death..."

Elara, walking ahead leading the way, suddenly stopped and pointed forward continuing to speak.

"So I had Mia come up with an alternative, reproducing one of Reed's magic cages. Removing the effect of physical obstruction, only keeping the energy isolation―in other words, an energy barrier."

"Energy barrier?"

Only then did we notice that what she was pointing to ahead wasn't air, but a black curtain blocking the corridor. Nothing could be seen behind the curtain even when a torch was brought close to illuminate it.

"The feel of this curtain seems so familiar..."

Cyra stroked her chin, pondering hard for a moment before her eyes lit up.

"That's right, it's the same as the surface of that little sphere inside the gas collector! Pitch black, not reflecting any light!"

"You noticed it too?" I said.

"According to Reed, in the gas collector, the purpose of this black surface was to absorb external energy..."

"Could it be Mia also reproduced that effect?"

I turned to Elara for confirmation.

"Correct! If we go further inside, that's where the cells are. This energy barrier doesn't hinder us from going in and out."

Elara nodded approvingly.

"It seems Mia did quite well. I didn't expect she could meet my expectations after only learning from Reed for a few days..."

She then instructed the guard holding the torch,

"You don't need to light the way. I'll use magic instead!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a transparent light ball floated up from her hand and hovered above our heads.

Unlike ordinary holy light shots, after rising this light ball persisted and continued radiating soft illumination. It appeared to be specialized lighting magic.

"Its surface even has a smiling face?"

I looked up at the lighting orb and cried out in surprise.

"It looks so cute... Woah, it even blinks!"

Cyra also gazed up and marvelled. The smiley face only consisted of a few short black lines, but the sensory effect was different as if it had come alive.

"That's just the appearance I set according to my personal preference. It can be removed too..."

Elara spoke without any visible action, and the smiling face instantly vanished, leaving only a hollow transparent light sphere floating there.

I never knew there was such amusing magic. I must find an opportunity to learn it in the future!

"Let's not waste any more time and head inside first!"

Without further ado, Elara stepped into the black curtain first.

The curtain could indeed be passed through. It felt somewhat similar to entering a room with the light element isolator activated, just with the opposite effect.

Speaking of which, Reed had designed the gas collector by modifying the light element isolator after all.

Stepping through the curtain, the surroundings instantly became much brighter. I could see an extremely spacious room before me, filled with rows of enormous cages.

Most of the cages were empty, only one held an inmate. There was also an angel squatting outside the cages, drawing on the floor.

"Lady Elara, you're here?"

The angel squatting there was Mia. Hearing the commotion, she came up to greet us upon seeing it was our group.

Only now did I notice the floor was filled with dense magical markings, occupying the entire room's floor space.

"Only one survived?"

Elara frowned, looking at the empty cages as she asked.

"I'm incompetent!"

Seeing this, Mia immediately knelt taking the blame.

"It took too long to set up the arrays. By the time I freed them from Reed's magic cage, only Yvonne was left."

"Yvonne ?"

I peered into the cage and found the collapsed inmate who had not woken up was none other than Yvonne, the ten-winged angel councillor I had seen previously.