<h4>Chapter 485 Chapter486-Destroying the Stronghold</h4>


    When the circle waspleted, so too seemed N''s incantation, yet she still clutched a small pinch of silver powder in her palm.


    What was the purpose of this remaining silver dust? Howard looked on curiously, pondering.


    Magi are known for their precise control over materials, and N should be no exception.


    Taking something out and not using it entirely—what was the reason behind that?


    Then, as a mist of mana rose, Howard watched as N calmly pocketed the silver dust... and even rubbed her fingers together over her pouch!


    Weren''t they supposed to have mastery down to thest detail? Howard was momentarily baffled.


    "Is that it? What about the silver dust? Just pocketing it like that?"


    "Of course, I pocket it when it''s used up. This stuff is expensive, you know!"


    N looked at Howard as if it were the most natural thing in the world, patted her hands together, and when she reopened them, a palm-sized rune emitting white light had formed, quietly floating above her palm, slowly rotating.


    "Step into the circle." Howard did as instructed, then saw N also step in, her body almost pressing against his.


    Howard looked up somewhat awkwardly, "Couldn''t you have drawn the circle a bitrger?"


    "I used to do this alone, who knew you were so bulky!" N shot Howard a nce, "Focus! We''re about to leave!"


    As herst word fell, N flipped her hand, mana flowed from her palm, and theplex rune dropped into the center of the silver circle.


    An iprehensible syble was uttered.


    White light red!


    A dizzying sensation hit Howard; his eyes narrowed, and his stance wavered.


    Then came a feeling of weightlessness, a nauseating sensation surged to the back of his head, then as quickly as it arrived, it vanished.


    Before Howard could even react, the surrounding white light began to dissipate.


    He and N appeared in a strange room.


    A man wearing a clown mask stood in the room, frozen in an odd posture.


    "Feeling dizzy..." Howard steadied himself against the back of a chair, his gaze shifting away from the clown mask.


    He could tell that, like Amriel before, the clown mask was locked in personal time.


    It seemed to be N''s doing; probably only she could achieve something like this here.


    Or more precisely, something her inscrutably profound teacher, Dorek, could aplish.


    "I didn''t expect you to get dizzy from teleportation; that''s not a verymon symptom."


    N appeared unbothered, walking around from behind the desk to stand in front of the clown mask, pointing at him and asking, "This guy, do you recognize him? Should be someone from the Rodel branch guild."


    Given Howard''s recent quests, he should have had some contact with people from the Rodel branch guild.


    "No." Howard shook his head decisively. He had been on quests, true, but he had only been in this ce for two days.


    The people from the Rodel branch guild he had interacted with were limited to the receptionist at the guild''s hall and Duduro, who wanted to buy the wolfrat.


    Given the clown mask''s build, it clearly wasn''t a woman, so could it be Duduro? It seemed highly unlikely he''d run into him.


    "Is that so." N nodded, then with a flick of her wrist, a gleaming silver dagger sprang from her sleeve, resting against the clown mask''s neck, "Killing him would let us know."


    "Where exactly are we?" Howard didn''t pay much attention to N''s action but instead focused on the room itself.


    Undoubtedly, N wasn''t the type to kill the innocent recklessly.


    If she were, she wouldn''t have gone to investigate the cause of the monster tide behind Howard''s back.


    Wait a second, something didn''t add up.


    How could N havee up with results in such a short time?


    The people of Rodel city aren''t just for show; if there were any anomalies, they should be the first to react!


    How did it fall to an outsider to discover them?


    Unless, they were intentionally covering up these matters.


    Or perhaps, N had been prepared from the start, with this as her initial target.


    "N, why did you bring me to Rodel in the first ce? Why didn''t we go directly to Sorona?"


    "I believe I''ve answered this question already," N nced at Howard, feeling a bit uneasy.


    "We need to replenish some supplies here. It''s nearly half a month''s journey from here to Sorona, and I certainly don''t want to be camping in the wilderness, gnawing on dry rations every day."


    "Is it just that simple?" Howard persisted, looking into N''s eyes.


    "Just that simple." N met his gaze without evasion.


    This indeed was her purpose, and her actions were motivated more by the Intelligence Division''s assignment.


    Had it not been for their mission, she would have left right after resupplying.


    "Alright, I believe you." Howard withdrew his skepticism, discerning no falter in N''s eyes, then turned his gaze towards the clown mask, "Are you going to kill him?"


    "Yes, this man is the enemy''s leader. If we don''t deal with him, it''ll be troublesome."


    "But it seems he holds a significant position in Rodel.


    There might beplications." Howard hesitated.


    "Complications?" N''s expression twisted oddly, somewhere between a coldugh and a sneer.


    "If there are any, they''ll be the adventurer guild''s problems, not ours."


    With that, a sh of the knife.


    A life was taken in silence.


    The blood sttered in midair was frozen in time, as N ced a hand over the clown mask''s head, emitting a faint glow.


    She was searching through the clown mask''s soul.


    This method ismonly used by magi; rather than wasting time and effort on interrogation without guarantee of obtaining the correct answers, it''s more direct to extract and search the opponent''s soul.


    A soul cannot lie; without reaching a significant level of strength, a soul is just a bewildered spirit,cking its own consciousness and wisdom.


    Such pure entities do not err when questioned.


    Momentster, N withdrew her hand, stepped back, and released the clown mask from its lock.


    Blood spattered as the clown mask silently fell to the ground, his throat nearly severed.


    N bent down to remove the mask from the corpse''s face.


    Duduro.


    Howard tapped his forehead; such a low probability event had actually urred.


    "What exactly is our enemy?"


    For the first time, Howard asked this question.


    Until now, he had simply been following N''s lead, acting ording to her instructions.


    "A cult, the Eternal me, a group of fanatics fond of living sacrifices. It seems Rodel has been chosen as their next target. Before Rodel, over a thousand people have died at their hands."


    N nced at Howard and added, "You needn''t have any reservations; every person in this cult deserves their fate!"


    Cult, a term neither distant nor familiar.


    Howard nodded, "What do we do next?"


    "We infiltrate their stronghold, locate the hidden site of the ritual, and destroy it." N searched the clown mask''s body but found nothing of note.


    "The Eternal me''s ritual has attracted those wild spellbeasts. Destroy it, and the beast horde will naturally disperse, ending Rodel''s crisis."


    A simple logic, crude but effective.


    "Alright, are we leaving now?" Howard noticed N searching for something on the floor.


    "Yes, but I think you''re not going to like this."


    N lifted the carpet, revealing on the wooden floor a perfect circle of grey-ck elf runes, justrge enough for one person to stand in.


    "Teleportation again?" Howard''s eyebrow twitched, "Howe you''re so proficient?"


    "Because I''ve done my research beforehand?" N replied with a smile, her expression bing serious again.


    "I''ll go first, and you follow half a minuteter. The matrix can be activated directly with mana, do not do anything extra, otherwise, I can''t be sure what might happen."


    Spells are an extremely precise system; any interference could lead to unpredictable oues.


    Although teleportation spells are rtively stable and less dangerous, any disturbance could alter the destination.


    A deviation of a couple of meters, and Howard could end up spending the rest of his life with a wall.


    Howard carefully noted N''s instructions, waving his hand, "Don''t worry, I know my limits."


    N took a deep breath and channeled mana directly into the matrix to activate it.


    She didn''t know what the situation at the other end of the matrix was like, whether the disappearance of the clown mask had caused any changes.


    Was the stronghold still as she left it?


    These unknown risks made N uneasy.


    But it was toote to turn back now.


    With a flicker of white light, N vanished into the brightness.


    Watching N''s figure gradually fade, Howard''s gaze remained calm.


    "Alright, are we setting off now?" Howard noticed N looking for something on the floor.


    "Yes, but I think you might not be too pleased."


    N lifted the carpet to reveal a perfect circle of grey-ck Elvish runes on the wooden floor, justrge enough to amodate one person.


    "Teleportation again?" A twitch appeared at the corner of Howard''s eye.


    "Howe you''re so adept at this?"


    "Because I did my homework?" N replied with a smile, her demeanor bing more serious.


    "I''ll go first, you follow half a minuteter. The matrix can be activated directly with mana, don''t do anything extra, or I can''t guarantee what might happen."