Chapter 413: Return

Two months later, in the High Tower Territory.

It was already late autumn. The farmland outside Nightlight City was like a golden ocean, undulating with the wind. The golden ears of wheat were full and plump; this was a bountiful harvest.

Arno stood on the city wall, looking at the farmers harvesting wheat, a trace of tenderness flashing in his eyes.

“Such a peaceful and prosperous life is probably the world father hoped for, and probably the world Ancestar wanted to protect. I really want to see you soon, melancholy uncle.”

A whistling sound of breaking through the air came from the distance. Strangely, the warning Magic Barrier did not make a sound.

Arno concentrated his hatred-filled mental power into his eyes. His expression instantly became somewhat ferocious. A black dot was rapidly approaching high in the sky.

In the Central High Tower outside the city, the advanced wizard apprentices guarding the crystal ball of the warning Magic Barrier looked nervously at the approaching black dot.

“Ultra-high mana reaction!”

“Extremely fast speed, approaching one-quarter the speed of sound!”

“The Magic Barrier has no warning alerts. This isn’t right.”

“Report to the Review Committee of the Magic Council immediately!”

Three advanced wizard apprentices ran out of the room, rushing to the highest floor where Polina, the rotating chairperson of the Magic Council, was on guard.

“Lord Polina, an anomaly has occurred. An unidentified high-magic object is approaching, but the Magic Barrier has no warning. The defense team is ready, and the defensive barrier has been activated.”

Polina stood up and said with a joyful expression, “Abort the defensive barrier immediately and notify the other councilors. Lord Ace has returned.”

The three advanced wizard apprentices hesitated slightly. They had never heard that Ace had left, but if it was Ace, everything made sense.

“Don’t hesitate. The signal team has already received the magic signal sent by Lord Ace via his Grimoire. Not only Lord Ace, but Bayen has also returned. Just notify them quickly!”

Meanwhile, Ace was getting closer and closer to Nightlight City. His speed slowed down. A dreamlike spiral gate manifested from the mental imagery dream world behind him, and Bayen walked out of it.

Using Low-Altitude Flight, he hovered in mid-air alongside Ace, looking at the bustling Nightlight City and the towering High Tower. Bayen couldn’t help but tear up.

“A full seven years. I finally broke through the limit of life, achieved the status of an official wizard, and returned to the home of wizards!”

Pitch-black mist lingered. Wearing silver armor, Arno shot up from the city wall like a cannonball, flying opposite Ace and Bayen.

Subconsciously, Bayen activated the 1-ring spell Perception. Extreme darkness, chilling hatred, and highly concentrated mana.

“This… this powerful and evil force, who is it?”

Arno remained silent. He just looked at Ace silently, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Ace said to Bayen in a calm tone, “This is Arno, Grand Knight Arno, the only Level 2 Life in the High Tower Territory besides me.”

Bayen was somewhat incredulous. The Arno in his memory was a pure young man, a brave knight with clear eyes, indomitable spirit, kind and responsible.

What happened to turn Arno into his current state? In Bayen’s perception, this darkness was so thick it was suffocating, carrying deep despair and suppressed hatred. This power seemed to be suppressed. If one felt carefully, one could seem to sense a trace of kindness and warmth.

But when Bayen continued to perceive, that warmth disappeared again, leaving only steel-like coldness. His spirit felt a sharp pain.

“Lord Bayen, constantly peeping at others with Perception is not polite behavior.”

Arno’s voice was like a knife, making Bayen feel somewhat piercing. He also realized that his behavior was indeed inappropriate and bowed apologetically, saying, “I lost my composure. Please forgive me.”

While they were talking, all nine official wizards of the High Tower Territory flew over. At first, they looked at Ace with excitement, but when they suddenly saw the person standing behind Ace, their expressions became somewhat incredulous.

Betty said hesitantly, “Welcome back, Lord Ace. Is this Lord Bayen?”

Bayen bowed slightly to everyone present and said, “I am Bayen. I was fortunate enough to meet Lord Ace and returned to the High Tower Territory from the Old Continent inside Lord Ace’s mental imagery world.”

Sulu narrowed his eyes slightly. He remembered Bayen. This old man had always been his strong rival, even better at flattering Lord Ace than him. Sulu perceived slightly and found that Bayen emitted a pale red light. His pupils constricted slightly.

“Already an official wizard? To become an official wizard again after failing advancement is simply incredible.”

Sulu muttered in his heart.

Everyone else also noticed Bayen’s situation. This simply violated everyone’s common sense. After Bayen left, besides everyone present, others had also tried to advance to official wizard, but they all failed without exception and completely lost the chance. Their mental power seemed to be locked, unable to advance an inch.

Precisely because of this, hundreds of advanced wizard apprentices in the High Tower Territory dared not easily attempt network-assisted advancement or ask Ace to preside over the advancement ritual. Most of them were constantly accumulating, hoping to succeed in one go.

Wearing a big hat, Logan took off his hat, flew in front of Bayen, and gave Bayen a hug.

“Old fellow, I really didn’t expect you to come back, and to have achieved the status of an official wizard. Do you have any experience that can be promoted? This is enough for a major paper in the Magic journal; its value is immeasurable.”

Bayen hugged Logan enthusiastically and said with a touch of emotion, “I also really want to publish another major paper in Magic, but this is just a fortuitous encounter. Currently, I haven’t found a law sufficient for replication. I’m afraid it will be difficult to promote for the time being.”

Logan nodded understandingly. How could it be easy to find the law for turning the impossible into possible?

Daina had no one else in her eyes. She didn’t notice Bayen, who used to discuss mathematics with her, at all; she only saw Ace. Daina had been somewhat haggard recently. Her hair was a bit dry, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her small lips lacked moisture. Only her eyes seemed to have thousands of words, staring straight at Ace.

Ace avoided Daina’s gaze somewhat uncomfortably. In both his past and present lives, he wasn’t very good at dealing with this. Sometimes he felt that creatures like women were much more troublesome than research, and since they couldn’t improve his strength, it was better to keep a respectful distance.

Seeing Ace dodging, Daina felt somewhat sad in her heart. She said, “Lord Ace, where have you been recently? You didn’t encounter any danger, did you? I was very worried about you.”

Ace coughed lightly and tried to say in a calm tone, “I went to the Reflection World to find traces of the Death Element rules and upgrade the spell Six-Element Ring. I encountered a Legendary-level skeletal giant dragon and was beaten until only my head remained. I exiled myself through space and ended up in the Artemis Kingdom on the Old Continent.”

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