Chapter 589 589 Homeward Bound
Chapter 589 589 Homeward Bound
Wolfe smiled as he felt the spells taking effect, and then sent Ella one last mental message.
[My work here is done, and I’m off to help the villages that we are allied with. I will see you when you get back to the city. Let me know if they try to make you Coven Leader, and I’ll come break you out.]
Wolfe felt her amusement at that suggestion, the mental equivalent of shaking her head at him.
[They’re not going that far. They want a leader who has an unbroken history in the city now that so much has changed after the rebellion, and Reiko is doing a good job. I will get things settled here and leave in the morning.]
Wolfe gave Cassie’s grandmother a hug and shook hands with the Noxus men who were guarding the fields. Some of them were going to be headed to Forest Grove for training, so he would see them soon, much to the old woman’s annoyance.
It was difficult to find good border guards that could be implicitly trusted, and Magi men had everything to lose until sentiments in the city shifted enough that they could be open about their magic and heritage.
For all they knew, that could still take generations, and even pushing for the acceptance of Magi at this point would be nearly suicidal, both for the protestor and their families. It was ridiculous to Wolfe’s mind, as they hadn’t had a Magi attack in over a century, and the witches were already using Magi magic all through the city for every conceivable purpose.
But threatening the wealth and power of those in charge was never an easy thing to do, especially in a city as rigidly structured as Morgana Fortress City.
For the other villages, Wolfe planned a simple upgrade. They already had barriers from Forest Grove that were delivered in the shipments, so he would just add a [Kind Intentions] spell and [Mana Gathering Array] to their city defences and be on his way. They would be somewhat lacking, but he knew that they used a wide variety of curses, and he didn’t have the patience to explain [Mana Cleansing] to them all.
The two spells that he was giving them would be enough to get them started on a path forward, and the students who agreed to training at the Academy or in Forest Grove would be fully cleansed of the bloodline curse.
The witches waved up at Wolfe as he flew over the villages, but he didn’t stop his flight as he cast the additional defensive spells for the dozen villages they had agreements with.
Then he headed back up toward the border and sent a mental message back to Cassie in Forest Grove.
[I’ve gotten all the spells on the empty villages filled. Let the scouts know that the refugees can be sent anywhere in Sylvan that isn’t occupied and set up a new home. Priya was going to dig them dens under all the villages in the next few days, but the defensive spells are ready.
I will be headed back tonight, but I might be late if I find a few groups on the move.]
[Got it. I will let everyone know. Keep an eye out, we have had a lot of monster sightings today for some reason. I’m sure everyone would appreciate it if you cleaned some of them up, or brought meat to the villages.] Cassie replied.
Wolfe released the link and turned North toward home. It was a good feeling to have everything finished and the defensive spells over the cities completed. At least that way, their closest neighbours were much less likely to be directly invaded and forced to join the United World Armies in attacking the Frozen Wastes.
There was something wrong with the air as Wolfe flew north. A deep sense of evil and wrongness filled the atmosphere, giving Wolfe a creepy feeling, and making him paranoid that the foreign witches had done something dramatic.
As a precaution, he cast [Mana Purification] using himself as the core. The inscription appeared on his hand, marking the temporary spell activation, and the air began to clear a little.
It was a relief, but not a good sign. If the spell helped, then it wasn’t just in his mind, something evil had affected the whole region, and the feeling was only getting stronger as he got closer to home. He couldn’t leave this sort of danger without investigation when there were refugees expected along this route, so against his better judgment, Wolfe continued toward the strengthening evil feeling.
It was powerful, but so far, it didn’t feel like it was going to be a real threat to him, it wasn’t that powerful.
There was something seriously wrong with the feeling, though. Wolfe had sensed many curses in the past, and if he was close enough to feel the spell, he should be close enough to see the mana disruption from their talismans. But there was nothing in sight, only that evil feeling, and a growing sense of wrongness.
Wolfe increased the power of the [Mana Purification] and [Detect Hidden] spells, and the world around him shimmered a little before stabilizing.
“Dammit, I’m in an illusion.” He muttered to himself as he stopped and cast an additional [Nether Lightning Barrier] array on himself and filled it with mana.
If he was under attack by something that could obfuscate his senses, he could only hope that the array’s ability to retaliate against attackers was going to work properly. Just in case that didn’t work, Wolfe prepared a [Thunderstorm Array] and added on an extra layer for more [Tornado] effects. After that, he layered the [Tornado] spells with [Unholy Flame Vortex] arrays.
That felt much better. If a combination of Nether Lightning and Unholy Fire at Rank Five weren’t enough to take out whatever was trapping him, he was pretty much screwed no matter what.
He felt something shift in the illusion, and [Nether Lightning] from his barrier crackled, causing a rumble of thunder before the illusion collapsed, and Wolfe found himself facing a decrepit pair of old witches, with auras so oppressive and evil that he had mistaken them as a powerful curse.
The Saints had come for him.