Chapter 130 - 92: Forbidden Angels, Great Progress
After a few seconds, fine snowflakes began to drift down from the lead-gray sky of Cold Pine Forest.
The cold wind carried a few flakes into the stone pavilion, and one of them happened to fly right in front of Mo Ning.
He instinctively reached out and caught it.
After just one glance, a strange expression appeared on Mo Ning’s face.
The snowflake was, surprisingly, spiral-shaped. Each layer of the spiral was uniform and exquisite, with countless fine crystalline branches extending from its edges.
The entire snowflake looked like a miniature, blooming crystal flower, so delicate that one couldn’t bear to touch it.
Mo Ning turned to the two girls and asked, "Snowflakes, I mean the ones outside the Academy, are supposed to be hexagonal, right?"
Anya looked a little lost.
She had received a very strict education since she was a child, covering noble etiquette, the basics of Divination, Qi and Blood Secret Skills, social skills, and so on.
But the shape of a snowflake was not part of her curriculum.
’Who would pay attention to the shape of a single snowflake?’
Reina answered quickly, "Yes!"
As a girl who grew up in the countryside, she’d had plenty of time to play and enough curiosity to pay attention to all sorts of odd things.
Mo Ning said nothing more.
He looked up at the sky outside the pavilion, suddenly realizing that Cold Pine Forest was very likely an experimental site left behind by some powerful Wizard.
This individual had, through some means, forcibly altered the most fundamental physical laws of this region, causing the rules of snowflake crystallization to be rewritten.
Mo Ning was struck by his own insignificance.
He stood here, able to explain the growth mechanism of Black Moss with Divination Formulas, able to solve complex systems of equations using the Highway Bridge Technique.
But faced with these spiral-shaped snowflakes, faced with the Wizard who had altered the laws of physics, he couldn’t even begin to comprehend the underlying principles.
For the first time, Reina quietly offered her opinion, "The shape of the snowflakes is very strange. It’s definitely worth studying."
Anya agreed, "There must be some kind of principle hidden behind these snowflakes."
Mo Ning also felt a strong urge to study them, but he ultimately shook his head. "This research topic is extremely difficult, and we don’t have that much time."
’These are artificially twisted rules. I wouldn’t even know how to build the Divination framework for this topic.’ He was well aware of his own limitations.
Reina let out an "Oh," and said, "Alright then."
Anya suddenly changed the subject. "I asked around for information about the ’Evil Angel Alliance’."
Mo Ning’s attention was instantly captured.
He couldn’t help but praise her silently. ’This Noble Lady is always so considerate. She knows exactly what information I’m most interested in.’
’I don’t even have to say it aloud; she’ll proactively go and gather intelligence.’
Anya began to explain, "This organization calls itself the ’Holy Angel Alliance,’ but the Academy refers to them as the ’Evil Angel Alliance’.
"The Evil Angel Alliance has no fewer than ten subsidiary Forbidden Sects. Kanda, the traitor you discovered, was a new member of one of them, the ’Eternal Earth Lord Sect’."
Mo Ning nodded slightly.
’This matches my suspicions perfectly.’
’It’s just that the number of subsidiary sects far exceeds my estimates.’
Anya’s voice grew more serious. "It’s said that the supreme Archbishop of the Evil Angel Alliance is known as the ’Saint Wing Archbishop,’ and he is a fearsome Third Level Wizard.
"The leader of every Forbidden Sect under the Alliance has reached the level of a Second Level Wizard.
"The leadership of these Forbidden Sects usually consists of three Cardinals, which means the Evil Angel Alliance has more than thirty Second Level Wizards."
Mo Ning was flabbergasted.
’I always thought that in this vast, boundless territory, the Black Tower Academy was an entity with absolute power.’
’Even though the name ’Dark Wizard’ terrified ordinary people, I figured they were just rats hiding in the gutters, only able to pop out and cause trouble occasionally, never becoming a real threat.’
’Now it seems that judgment was ridiculously wrong.’
The Academy’s enemy was a powerful force with a Third Level Wizard at its head and more than thirty Second Level Wizards in supporting roles.
Such power was enough to contend with the Academy on an open battlefield, enough to give even the high and mighty Wizards a serious headache.
Anya delivered another piece of bad news. "In the last ten years, thirty-eight Academy Wizards have died at the hands of the Evil Angel Alliance. And by exposing a traitor planted by the Saint Angel Church, you may have averted a major disaster for the Academy."
Mo Ning’s brow twitched slightly.
’Thirty-eight Official Wizards alone have died. The number of Apprentice casualties must be even higher—hundreds, perhaps even thousands.’
’For the Academy, this is definitely a loss that cannot be ignored.’
At the same time, Mo Ning understood something else—why the Academy had given such a huge reward of 200 Black Tower Points for reporting Kanda.
’The logic was simple. Great rewards bring forth brave men. The stronger the enemy, the higher the Academy’s reward would have to be.’
Anya immediately followed up with some good news. "The five Wizard Academies in the area, including the Black Tower Wizard Academy, have been working together to suppress the Evil Angel Alliance.
"So, the combined power of the Academies still holds an overwhelming advantage."
Mo Ning nodded again.
’Each of the five Academies has a Headmaster and two Vice-Headmasters who are all Third Level Wizards. That adds up to fifteen Third Level Wizards.’
’On the surface, the enemy only has one Third Level Wizard. Perhaps there are a few more in hiding, but at most two or three. Their top-tier combat power is far inferior to the Academies.’
Mo Ning pondered for a moment, then asked a question that had been on his mind for a while. "I’ve read some books in the Royal Library about the Forbidden Sects.
"Many of the texts mention that the Angel Legion will one day descend to completely purify the world of all heretics. What exactly are Angels and the Angel Legion?"