The mages summoned from the capital gathered on the mountainside of the volcano, encircling it completely.

They raised their arms high, their magical power interconnecting and gradually forming a massive magical array surrounding the volcano.

Streams of light flowed, magnificent for hundreds of li.

Many magical steel nails embedded in the volcano were affected by the formation, their magical chains beginning to jingle and rattle, penetrating deeper into the volcano.

Runes were inscribed upon the formation, making the enormous array increasingly substantial, spreading outward for hundreds of li.

Second-tier mages stood at a lower level than the third-tier mages, continuously supplying them with magical power.

When the first batch of second-tier mages became exhausted, the second batch took over.

Once the earliest batch of second-tier mages had rested and recovered, they returned to the field, rotating in cycles.

Over a dozen third-tier mages concentrated, beginning to chant towards the center of the magical array:

"The God of the Abyss weeps! Gather the world's cold!"

"The God of Mercy begs! Sing the tears of the underworld!"

...

Although Erica was the duke's daughter, she received no special treatment.

She was assigned to the ranks of the second-tier mages like everyone else.

After evacuating the civilians, the knights stood guard nearby to protect these mages from disturbance.

Magic attracts magical beasts, so they guarded the mages, slaying any creatures that approached.

"This magical array covering the entire Mount Vesuvius becomes more powerful the longer the spell is maintained," said Duke Levi, a third-tier mage, as he strained to adjust the formation. He only hoped that the volcano's eruption could be delayed further.

If this grand array could be maintained for a day, it would definitely be able to intercept the entire eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

This continued for an hour. The first batch of second-tier mages descended the mountain, and another batch took their place.

Erica was among this batch of mages. She stood behind Duke Levi, beginning to chant softly, transferring her magical power to her father.

While chanting spells and drawing the array, Duke Levi observed Erica's every move.

Seeing Erica able to hold her own, he felt somewhat proud.

"Erica, you've grown up."

The second round of mages went down, and the third batch was about to come up, but Erica didn't leave.

She secretly drank a bottle of blue potion she had purchased from Lia, instantly feeling her spiritual power replenished.

Duke Levi was surprised to see Erica still continuing, and at the same time, he was very pleased.

"I didn't expect Erica to possess such an abundance of spiritual power."

"When I was her age, I was far from her level."

Another hour passed, and after the third batch of mages went down, the fourth batch had already come up.

Erica was still standing on the magical array, continuing to supply magical power to Duke Levi.

She secretly drank another bottle of potion, fully restoring her spirit once again.

If Duke Levi was merely surprised before, now he was completely shocked!

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"Is Erica's talent really this terrifying!?"

"This astonishing spiritual power has already surpassed many third-tier mages."

And he, as Erica's father, only now realized how powerful his daughter was!

Soon, the fourth batch of mages also depleted their magical power and went down to rest successively.

Erica secretly drank another bottle and continued supplying power.

All the third-tier mages around Duke Levi noticed Erica.

It had been four hours already, where did she get so much magical power from?

Could it be that within the chest of this genius girl, there was an ocean called 'magic'!?

These mages couldn't help but ask the duke:

"Duke Levi, is your daughter a monster? To have such terrifying spiritual reserves."

"Indeed, I've never seen anyone's ox plow for so long without rest."

Duke Levi began to worry. He feared his daughter was pushing herself too hard, potentially causing irreversible damage to her body.

But seeing that his daughter still seemed quite relaxed, he held back what he wanted to say.

What was really going on?

He couldn't figure it out.

Until five hours later, when the first batch of the second round of mages had already gone down to rest again, the second-tier mages who should have been in the same group as Erica once again climbed to the mountaintop.

To their surprise, they saw the duke's daughter.

She was still standing on the magical array below Duke Levi, like an astonishing lamp, her whole body radiating magical light.

???

Don't you need to rest?

Indeed, after each batch of mages went down, Erica would secretly drink a potion to keep her magical power at a relatively comfortable level.

Erica sensed the shock and surprise in their eyes and felt very proud of her actions.

'Thanks to the potions made by Professor Viktor, I can continue to persist like this!'

'Father will surely look at me with new eyes!'

While she was still feeling elated, Duke Levi's roar came like an iron hammer, jolting her back to reality.

"Erica! Go down and rest right now!!!"

Erica: "....."

It was the first time she had seen her father so angry with her. For a moment, she felt scared and shrank back, lowering her head as she went down.

However, her reputation had already spread throughout the ranks of the second-tier mages.

"Who understands? She's just a freak! When I went down for the first time, she hadn't left, and when I returned for the second time, she was still up there!"

"You mean Duke Levi's daughter? I saw it too, her spiritual power must already be comparable to a third-tier mage..."

"Even Viktor might find it hard to compete with her."

Erica had good hearing and heard these secret praises about her, feeling somewhat proud.

Some even compared her to Viktor, and when she heard this, she couldn't help but feel jubilant.

But Erica was also very clear that without those potions, she could never have sustained for such a long time.

Those magical potions were made by Viktor...

Thinking of this, the praises she heard suddenly felt incredibly ugly.

Indeed, she was no match for Professor Viktor.

Perhaps, in her entire life, she would never be able to catch even a glimpse of his back.

"Roar!!!"

Another earth-shaking roar came from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius. Rocks began to crumble, and ash flew towards the ground.

The dark clouds above the volcano seemed to be shattered, with cracks appearing, burning red within the gaps.

The mountain began to tremble, and magma started to stir restlessly inside the volcano.

"Look! What's that!?"

A knight pointed at the high-temperature raindrops falling from the sky.

Countless fire rains fell near the volcano's mouth, and rocks exploded like bombs when touched by the raindrops.

All the mages and knights became alert. The mages immediately began to draw temporary magical arrays to deal with the crisis, while the knights started to enchant their armor and silver swords with magical items.

Was the volcano about to erupt now?

Suddenly, Erica heard a voice in her heart:

'It hurts, it hurts so much...'

"That voice again! What exactly is happening?"

She clearly heard this voice coming from the volcano's peak, and she really wanted to go up there to see.

Moreover, perhaps... Professor Viktor was there!

Erica remembered the mages' slanderous words about Professor Viktor.

She didn't want to consider Viktor as the mastermind behind the volcanic eruption.

But in this situation, anyone would suspect Viktor.

The disappeared Viktor, and the imminent volcanic eruption.

"No! I must find a way to get to the volcano's mouth and take a look."

Thinking this, Erica noticed the Knight Order guarding the formation nearby.

There was the only woman in the Knight Order,

She was beautiful, the second most beautiful woman Erica had ever seen apart from her mother.

The first was the sister in the Kravina store.

Completely different from that sister's aura, she was like a knight who had walked out of ice, with a cold presence. Just standing there made people feel a sense of distance.

Unapproachable.

Erica had heard that this knight was the current Captain of the Royal Knight Order — Gwen.

She decided to approach this sister and ask for permission to leave.

"If I directly say I want to go to the volcano's mouth, it definitely won't work."

Erica paced on the spot, thinking, when suddenly an idea popped into her head.

She pretended to be anxious and rushed in front of Gwen.

As she had hoped, her behavior indeed caught the other's attention.

"Um, Knight sister, I need to use the bathroom. Could you let me leave here for a while?"

"No."

Gwen answered decisively.

"I'm here to ensure the safety of all of you. Miss Erica, please endure it."

"Ugh... Cold and rigid knight, only knows how to follow orders."

Erica muttered, returning sulkily.

But she felt increasingly anxious inside.

The voice from the mountaintop, the disappeared Viktor, all seemed to be reminding her of something.

She must leave here and go to the peak!

At this moment, Duke Levi suddenly appeared beside her, patting her shoulder.

"Eep!"

Erica's body trembled, like a startled little rabbit.

Duke Levi said sternly:

"Dear, give me an explanation."