I Pioneered Scientific Magic

In the City of Fire Oil, within a duke's estate situated at the corner of the city, machine guns spat out flames, pouring intense bullets onto the bodies of towering, grotesquely-faced monsters.

"Quick, stop these monsters!" "Where's the ammunition for the machine guns? Where's our backup?"

Screams and roars erupted incessantly. No one knew where these ghastly twisted monsters came from. They seemed to have suddenly appeared within the City of Fire Oil, causing chaos everywhere and intentionally congregating to attack the duke's residence.

Ham, clutching a machine gun, continuously fired, turning two approaching monsters into sieves, not noticing that the flesh of the exploded bodies was slowly wriggling.

As if possessed by some magic, even just the remains stubbornly moved on the ground. Under the cover of night, they quickly and silently moved to the feet of several guards.

A tentacle shot out from a piece of corpse, piercing into a guard's ankle and instantly dragged him to the ground.

The guard, in intense pain, kicked his legs but was powerless to resist and was dragged into the darkness, only able to cry out for help.

"Save me, please save me!"

His three colleagues immediately rushed over, trying to pull him back, but what awaited them were more flesh tentacles, piercing through their chests, shoulders, and even necks...

The remaining corpses on the ground also shed their disguises, their sinister tentacles stretching out and curling towards Ham and the gunmen who were reloading.

"Below, watch out for the bodies on the ground!" Ham warned frantically, throwing a Molotov cocktail. In the explosion and flames, the extending tentacles were blown apart.

But this was only a temporary barrier, as there were too many bodies on the ground, gradually accumulating into a huge mass of flesh.

Dozens of guard wizards immediately noticed the chaos. A volley of fireballs tore through the void, blasting the large flesh mass into bits. However, this made the situation even worse, as every piece of debris began to fly towards the nearest guards, burrowing into their exposed skin and absorbing the nutrients needed for revival.

A series of agonizing screams echoed through the estate. The originally stable formation almost collapsed instantly, and more monsters surged forward, worsening the casualties...

Fortunately, the long-awaited support finally arrived. A fierce tongue of flame swept across. This was not ordinary fire but plasma at tens of thousands of degrees Celsius, capable of obliterating all flesh and bone.

Its name was "Eternal Flame!" "Are you all right?" Alade emerged from the estate, asking with a grave expression.

"Thank goodness, Master Alade!" Ham and the others shouted in surprise, their morale immediately boosted.

The power of a great wizard goes without saying. Without a worthy opponent, just one person's power could dominate the outcome of a war!

"Please, save my brother, Master Wizard." A blood-soaked guard staggered, dragging his brother to Alade, pleading.

Alade looked down at the man's right hand, where tentacles were extending from the wound, looking incredibly terrifying.

"If you want to live, bear the pain." Alade warned, then suddenly acted, grabbing the man's arm. In his screams, Alade performed a "High-Level Material Deconstruction," eradicating the arm and the parasitic monster flesh within at the atomic level...

"Thank you, thank you, Master Alade!" The blood-soaked guard gratefully said, his brother's arm was lost, but his life was saved.

Alade didn't look at them again but glanced at the many broken monster bodies outside the estate and the injured, pained by the parasitic flesh...

Damn, where did these monsters come from?

Alade cursed in his heart. He and Raphael were originally guarding the "Sun Furnace" beneath the city. But from the messages continuously reported by the guards, the situation had now reached a point where they had to take action! It's always better to repel enemies from outside than to be breached...

...

Meanwhile, under the protection of the Illusory Realm, Monroe and Ivina took advantage of the chaos to enter the estate.

These suddenly appearing monsters were naturally summoned from "Hell" by Monroe using the power of a holy artifact! It's undeniable, this holy artifact is incredibly powerful, with six faces representing six divine arts: Illusory Realm, Life Stripping, Hell Summoning, Memory Retrieval, Indestructible Shield, and Holy Strike.

These six arts are very versatile, covering offense, defense, and reconnaissance. Monroe even felt more powerful than a Cardinal, capable of doing much more, such as killing the guards in front of him.

Monroe turned his head, aiming the cube at Alade, who was cleaning up the monster corpses. Eliminating this great wizard would instantly collapse the defense line! "Are you going to waste your power here?" Ivina suddenly spoke up, interrupting him.

Monroe paused, surprised at his colleague's interruption. Now was the best time to strike; the guards were all focused on the monsters, and within the Illusory Realm, he had a perfect, utterly hidden opportunity to act!

Eliminating Great Wizard Alade could instantly crush the morale of the guards, allowing the monsters to breach deep into the estate.

As for what lay beneath, Monroe didn't know, but it was the mission entrusted to him by Saint Lucia.

It had to be completed!

Ivina spoke up to explain. "Most of the Wizard Council's power is concentrated within the City of Fire Oil. We've merely caught them off guard, using the lives of our comrades to delay their support. But even so, it won't be long before those wizards mobilize more forces to aid..."

"No... what I mean is... they've already arrived!" Ivina suddenly looked up, pointing at the sky.

Monroe looked up in the direction Ivina was pointing. In the vast night sky, something seemed to be moving fast.

It was a fleet of airships, numerous in number!

Though unclear from a distance, Monroe immediately realized this, and his mood, which had been fairly good, was completely ruined. He knew each airship carried that strange hellfire, very effective against the monsters' powerful regenerative abilities.

Besides, the wizards coming to aid were surely elite forces.

That meant even if he killed Alade and broke through here, the monsters he summoned would be quickly cleared out.

"The monsters you summoned have already drawn out most of the guards underground. Now is the best time to infiltrate." Ivina spoke again, reminding him.

"Perhaps you're right!" Monroe reluctantly nodded, putting away the holy artifact and accepting the girl's advice, sparing the guards and quickly stepping into the estate.

Ivina looked back at the guards still resisting and clearing the monsters, as well as the distant fires.

Before tonight, this city was filled with peace and tranquility, unlike any major city within the empire.

Here, every civilian had a job, they weren't hungry or cold.

Here, wizards built high-rises and expanded roads, filling the entire city with vitality.

Here, the administration wasn't hereditary but elected through exams, in which civilians, nobles, and wizards could all participate.

This city was so different in so many ways...

Ivina faintly remembered Lord Gustav telling her, the reason the empire keeps expanding, the reason for its greatness, was to build heaven on earth!

But wizards were the opposite, intending to turn the world into hell...

This was why they hunted wizards.

But this time, they were the ones who broke the city's peace.

Ivina was lost in thought. In the northern territories of the empire, the wizards she had seen were all mad and pathological.

But in the few months in the City of Fire Oil, what she saw was completely contrary to the teachings she had received.

If this was all a disguise, then those wizards were too good at pretending.

Ivina's gaze moved to the deeper parts of the estate, the most strictly guarded part of the City of Fire Oil!

If there was any so-called truth, it must be hidden here!

Let me see then, the reality beneath the illusion!

Thinking this, Ivina turned her head back, stepping alongside Monroe toward the deeper castle within the estate. Under the protection of the holy artifact's domain, the guards inside the estate couldn't see them at all.

In fact, not just visually, but also auditory and olfactory senses couldn't detect the two within the domain, an effect of the Illusory Realm.

Even so, Monroe was very cautious because no one knew what kind of detection magic those wizards might possess.

Just entering the foyer, the two were shocked by the sight before them. The entire castle's underground was hollow, revealing a spiraling path leading to an unknown destination.

The more they followed the path downwards, the more Monroe and Ivina were shocked by the massive scale of the construction; they even doubted whether the wizards had hollowed out the entire city below.

"They might be preparing to open a gateway to hell here!" Monroe speculated.

Ivina pursed her lips, reluctant to believe Monroe's guess, but besides that, she couldn't think of any other reason to hollow out the entire city.

In silence, the two delved deeper, and this place was indeed a magnificent underground city, fully equipped. Two giant excavators worked non-stop, expanding the underground space, followed by elemental wizards responsible for reinforcement.

Workers came and went, many worried about the unrest in the City of Fire Oil, and some discussed the construction of this underground city.

Monroe and Ivina pricked up their ears, carefully maintaining distance while eaves

dropping for information.

But the more they listened, the more puzzled their expressions became. The topics discussed by these wizards seemed to revolve around the sun.

Monroe even heard a witch boasting to a companion that she had seen Lynn Maxwell and the councilors create a sun with magic and bind it underground to provide energy for the entire city...

What a joke, that's absurd.

Create a sun with magic and bind it? How do you bind it, with a rope?

A mocking expression appeared on Monroe's face.

The council must be using such absurd words to deceive those stationed here, surely to cover up something unsightly!

Monroe was more convinced of his initial speculation, or perhaps the wizard's statement was a metaphor. They were preparing to cast a powerful magic underground that could destroy everything, thus utterly obliterating the city.

Ivina was also bewildered, but she quickly abandoned those chaotic thoughts. Regardless of what the wizards were hiding, she would soon see it for herself.

"By the way, how should this holy artifact in your hand be used?" The girl suddenly turned to Monroe, asking.

Monroe gripped the cube tightly, wary. "What do you want to do?"

"These past few months, you've submitted incorrect intelligence twice, causing significant losses to the church." Ivina slowly said. "Honestly, I can't trust your judgment, and I don't know why Saint Lucia entrusted you with this important mission..."

Of course, because of my unquestionable devotion to the Lord!

Monroe was annoyed but couldn't refute the girl's words, as his consecutive misjudgments had indeed caused disastrous consequences.

But...

Monroe's face showed a hint of hesitation. He always had a bit of wariness towards this colleague, as Ivina's enthusiasm for learning about wizardry made him very uneasy.

"If you have an accident, who will complete the mission?" Seeing Monroe's hesitation, Ivina questioned again.

Monroe frowned, though he didn't think he would have an accident, he indeed needed to consider this possibility.

Thinking this, Monroe couldn't help but smile bitterly. Compared to Ivina, who occasionally provided cover for him at the academy and had learned some wizard knowledge, he, who had transmitted incorrect intelligence twice, seemed more like a traitor, right?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Alright, if I die, it's up to you to take over the mission!" Monroe sighed, quickly making a decision and explaining to the girl.

Ivina listened attentively. Controlling the holy artifact wasn't difficult; it only required saying a specific command and injecting magic power.

While explaining to the girl, Monroe suddenly stopped, looking ahead with shock and horror in his eyes, as if seeing something unimaginable. His lips trembled slightly, clearly saying.

The Sun!