Ch.202Chapter 202: The Kingdom of Duron (8)

# Chapter 202: The Kingdom of Duron (8)

“Found it!”

With Valt’s shout, the target finally revealed itself beyond the shattered alloy door.

In the center of a massive circular space, surrounded by complex magitech devices, stood the “Cryogenic Mana Stabilization Core”—a blue crystalline structure the size of a small house, contained within a transparent cryogenic preservation unit.

It pulsated like a living heart, rhythmically emitting blue light while fluctuating unstably, radiating powerful and pure cold energy that seemed capable of freezing everything around it.

Even at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object.

But there wasn’t even a second to admire it.

The moment the core was exposed, elite Dark Society agents guarding the storage facility rushed in from all directions with battle cries, and the Dark Society executive who had been fighting Professor Liman turned his rage-filled gaze toward them.

“You fools! How dare you try to take that!”

The executive roared, breaking through Liman’s defense and attempting to fire a dark red mana bullet directly at the core.

His orb glowed ominously!

“Valt! Now! The mirror! Hurry!”

Professor Liman desperately shouted as he blocked the executive’s path again.

His blue aura and the executive’s dark red magical energy collided violently once more, creating a deafening explosion that shook the space.

Beads of sweat formed on Liman’s face for the first time. At least Master-level!

“Lamrpo! Watch carefully what I’m about to do! Stay alert! Guard the perimeter and make sure I’m not interrupted!”

While shouting to Lamrpo, Valt pulled out an old silver-framed hand mirror—Franz’s mirror—from his pocket.

He focused all his mental energy on the mirror and the core. The surrounding explosions, flashes, and killing intent seemed to fade into the distance. He pointed the mirror directly at the massive core.

“Hnngh!!”

As Valt summoned his remaining mana with a shout, the seemingly ordinary mirror’s surface began to ripple like a black abyss.

It wasn’t simple darkness. An alien space of unfathomable depth, like a night sky filled with countless twinkling stars, unfolded within the mirror.

Woooong—!

A low, strange resonance emanated from the mirror as if space itself were vibrating, causing the surrounding area to warp violently like a heat haze.

The mirror’s surface reflected the enormous core, its cryogenic containment unit, and even parts of the surrounding floor and walls. Then, an incredible, marvelous sight unfolded.

The blue light of the house-sized core rapidly dimmed, and its massive form began to be sucked into the mirror’s night sky-like subspace, like ink spreading through water.

The spatial distortion reached its peak, causing nearby machinery to spark.

“Truly a cheat-like artifact.”

Though he had used it in Brasov as well, given the right circumstances, this artifact’s utility surpassed any other.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was only seconds, the space where the core had been was completely empty, and as the spatial distortion ceased, Franz’s mirror returned to its ordinary hand mirror appearance.

It didn’t even feel heavy.

Its performance was truly worthy of being called an artifact.

Without Franz’s mirror, this operation would have been nearly impossible.

“I-is this… success?!”

Lamrpo stammered in disbelief.

“Yes! Got it!”

“Th-this is impossible…! That mirror belongs to our Dark Society!!”

The Dark Society executive, shocked at seeing the target vanish before his eyes, roared in fury, losing his composure.

Uncontrolled dark red magical energy explosively erupted from his entire body.

But the experienced Professor Liman wouldn’t miss the momentary opening created by that anger and shock.

“You have time to be distracted? Take this!”

Liman’s sword pierced the executive’s exposed shoulder like lightning.

The blue aura concentrated at the sword’s tip exploded, creating the sound of flesh and bone being pierced.

“ARGHHHH!”

With the sound of breaking bones, the executive screamed horribly and staggered backward.

In a Master-level battle, a moment’s distraction was equivalent to asking to be killed.

The Dark Society executive had been flustered by the impossible situation unfolding before him.

His robe’s shoulder area was completely torn away, with dark red blood gushing out like a fountain.

Though not a fatal wound, it was deep enough to render one arm nearly useless.

He glared at Liman, trembling with pain and rage.

“Kill them!! Kill them all!!”

At that moment, Valt shouted:

“Everyone! Cease combat! Retreat immediately! Don’t worry about the professor!”

His friends looked somewhat confused.

“Huh?!”

“Now?!”

“We almost got him!”

“Aren’t we going to finish off the Dark Society?”

Yuria licked her lips regretfully, and Solpin furrowed his brow, but Valt’s orders were absolute.

Though momentarily confused by the sudden retreat order in the midst of intense fighting, his companions quickly grasped his intention and began to move.

“Shut up! Hurry!”

Valt shouted once more.

“Kuk kuk, good choice, my disciple. It’s best to save time when you can.”

What lay ahead was uncertain territory filled with dangers.

Valt wanted to save time wherever possible.

The Dark Society? Compared to Kwan’s threat, these guys were secondary.

After all, family-related matters were always the most terrifying.

“Valt! Leave this to me! Go now!! I’ll follow shortly.”

“I’m counting on you, Professor!”

Without further delay, Valt began running back the way they came with Liris and Lamrpo, who had barely regained his senses.

The other companions quickly formed a retreat formation and followed behind Valt.

Their only goal was escape.

“Catch them! Recover the core! They must not escape!”

From behind came the executive’s enraged shout as the remaining agents pursued them fiercely.

Valt’s group didn’t look back. Valt collapsed ceiling structures with physical magic to block the path, while Lati simultaneously deployed thick fog and illusion magic to confuse the pursuers’ vision and sense of direction.

Solpin smashed through any obstructing bent iron doors or collapsed walls with his claymore, clearing the way, while Yuria used her beast-like senses to find the safest and fastest route, shouting directions from the front.

It was truly a fantastic combination of teamwork.

“This way! There’s the wall those knights broke through earlier! We can go straight to the surface from here!”

Finally, they burst through an emergency exit leading to the surface, leaving behind the underground filled with dust, cold air, and endless explosions! But waiting for them was an even larger number of Magitek Knights than before, led by a furious-looking vice-commander.

Dozens of mana rifle barrels and glowing aura blades were aimed at them simultaneously.

“Halt! Drop your weapons and surrender! This is your final warning! Otherwise, you will all be executed!”

The vice-commander’s stern voice echoed. The encirclement was perfect.

“Damn! We don’t have time for this!”

Valt gritted his teeth. They couldn’t engage in a full-scale battle with the knights here. But they couldn’t allow themselves to be captured either.

Just then, Professor Liman, who had followed them out, stepped forward with a smirk.

His clothes were torn in places and blood seeped from his shoulder, but his demeanor was relaxed. He pulled out both his gleaming “Aura Master” badge and the “Royal Insignia” given by Princess Siloin, displaying them as he roared! His voice carried both the dignity of a Master and skillful acting.

“I am Liman Squat, professor at Grovint Academy and Imperial Aura Master! This is Prince Valt of Gerung, a key figure in the Southern Alliance! The recent terrorist attack was the work of the Dark Society targeting the kingdom’s strategic asset, the ‘Cryogenic Mana Stabilization Core,’ and we intervened in utmost secrecy under His Majesty’s confidential orders and Princess Siloin’s request to prevent this and move the core to a secure location! I have dealt with the mastermind and remaining accomplices inside, so you must immediately seal this workshop at the highest security level and prepare for additional threats! We must transport the secured core to a safe location without delay for a more important and ‘confidential’ mission! Blocking our path would be defying the will of His Majesty and the Princess, and will be considered treason, punishable by immediate execution!”

The overwhelming authority of an Aura Master, the royal insignia, plus the bluff about “His Majesty’s confidential orders.”

The vice-commander briefly doubted Liman’s words, but couldn’t easily refute them in the face of his gaze, presence, and the presented credentials.

Moreover, the keywords “Dark Society” and “strategic asset protection” were enough to soften his suspicion.

He looked alternately at the still-chaotic workshop interior and the faces of Liman and Valt, before finally making a difficult decision.

“…Everyone, lower your weapons and clear the path. However, I will formally request verification of your identities and mission details from the royal palace later.”

“Do as you please! We have no time, so move aside!”

The knight forces reluctantly cleared the way. Valt’s group didn’t look back and jumped into the armored magitech vehicle they had waiting. With a loud magical engine roar, the vehicle broke through the encirclement and sped away from the workshop area at full speed.

After driving for some time, the vehicle finally slowed down near a pre-arranged hideout in the outskirts of Siduron. Inside the vehicle, everyone was breathing heavily, a mixture of tension and fatigue.

Lamrpo had completely collapsed onto a sofa, exhausted, while Professor Liman was treating his own shoulder wound. The other companions also had torn clothes and various injuries, but their eyes reflected relief and a strong sense of accomplishment at completing what had seemed an impossible first mission.

Valt took out Franz’s mirror from his pocket to check it. Fortunately, the mirror was intact without even a tiny crack, and the first core component, the “Cryogenic Mana Stabilization Core,” was safely “recorded” inside.

A satisfied smile formed on his lips.

“Whew… we really almost died!”

Lati said, catching her breath. She quickly cast simple recovery magic on her companions.

“But Valt, why did you suddenly bolt like that earlier??”

Valt looked out the window and said coldly:

“Why waste time there when we don’t know what’s coming next? It’s best to save time when possible. The Dark Society seemed to be plotting something, and staying there probably wouldn’t have ended well for us.”

Liman looked at Valt with a meaningful smile.

“And those fools had no idea.”

There was a strange pleasure mixed in his voice.

“That we have… something a hundred times more terrifying than the Dark Society! Isn’t that right, disciple? Kuk kuk kuk kuk.”

“Haah… I can only sigh. By the way, Professor, your improvisation was impressive.”

Liman chuckled.

“When you’re a professor, you need to be able to lie that smoothly.”

“Hehe, I see.”

Valt smiled at Liman’s words and looked at the map marking their next destination, “Factory No. 1” in the eastern mountain region.

Valt couldn’t help but sigh.

“Haaah…”

They would have to do this at least four more times.