Mage? Magic Engineer!

Rorschach, the "errand fairy," had no idea that two groups of his acquaintances were in deep trouble. Nor could he have predicted such a coincidence that would bring Pascal’s group and Richard together again.

It wasn’t some dramatic coincidence. It was just that these young people were all standouts in their respective factions. They were like stones bobbing in the center of a whirlpool, constantly pushed by an irreversible current, destined to churn and collide from time to time.

Rorschach’s Spirit Body ascended to the Boundary Land, where he saw a brilliant light emanating from the intersection of his current space and the Star Realm.

’The flow of the Transmuting Dust has accelerated...’

He confirmed a few things in order:

The Tree of Law was fine. Meanwhile, on the Original Layer, the Tree of Truth was abnormally active, with specks of light constantly welling up from its source.

Next was the Starship. Rorschach materialized a physical body using [Axiom Creation], left the Boundary Land, and went outside. He saw that the Starship had already escaped the now-turbulent Transformation Dust Layer Flow.

He quietly approached and took a reading; the three crew members inside seemed to be going about their normal activities. The Starship was well-stocked with supplies, so there was no need to worry about them starving.

The only concern was when this sea of Transmuting Dust in the Star Realm would calm down. Otherwise, the massive ship would have to keep cruising on its stored fuel without any way to resupply. The three would eventually have to abandon it, letting it plummet and mutate without its Shield active.

Finally, there was the situation on the world below.

Rorschach looked down through the Transmuting Dust and discovered that a certain force indeed enveloped the Prime Material Plane. Viewed from the edge, an additional arc of light was visible besides the Transformation Dust Layer Flow, revealing its presence.

In addition, dark patches had appeared on the surface. Rorschach was startled, but upon closer inspection, the mountains and rivers within the patches all seemed normal.

’It isn’t a physical phenomenon?’ Rorschach decided to enter a dissociated state. He once again slipped into the reverse side of the Realm of Reality. After doing so and layering on the effect of [Arcane Vision], the light-dark distribution of the Prime Material Plane inverted.

’The Magic Power in the "dark patch" regions is abnormally active.’

He mentally compared his view with a map. Ovord, the city shrouded in mist, was within one of the patches.

After assessing the situation, he made some preparations in the Boundary Land.

"Alright, time to move out." There was no need to be precious with a body created by Axiom Creation. Rorschach plunged headfirst into the turbulent flow, unleashed a powerful Shield, and became a meteor with a blue tail, streaking straight toward Ovord.

...

"Our enemies are endless and they regenerate. It’s only a matter of time before they wear us down." Paul’s head felt like it was about to split open. A dull, 180-degree ache assaulted him, wrapping from his temples to the back of his head.

This was a symptom of excessive Casting. The human body’s most intricate organ—the vessel of the Soul and the wellspring of Magic—was in a state of extreme fatigue, warning him to stop Casting and rest immediately.

Richard’s exhaustion manifested a little differently. He also had a headache, one that felt as if his blood vessels were about to burst, but his symptoms were more focused on a blurring of his senses. His Casting precision had dropped significantly, and the delay was getting longer and longer—it was as if he were about to be "logged off" from the Spell Cloud.

It was a worry he couldn’t voice. He wasn’t sure if he could still cast so many Magic spells as smoothly and skillfully after leaving the Spell Cloud.

It was a delicate insecurity, like a handsome man who is secretly wearing a toupee.

The other Mages were in even worse shape. A number of them were already injured. The attacks from the flesh seemed to have an infectious, assimilating effect; the wounds itched unbearably, and you could see fleshy growths sprouting from them.

Fortunately, two Mages in their group knew Purification, a spell with a Holy Attribute. Its silver light could suppress the growths from continuing to leech nutrients from the wounded. But the same problem plagued these two specialists—they too were reaching their Casting limits.

Even after repelling several attacks from the Blood Cavalry and successfully moving the group, Pascal couldn’t help but voice his despair:

"We’re not going to die here, are we? The thought of Paulina remarrying... I can’t bear it! She should at least wait ten years... no, twenty..."

Paul had no time for niceties like respecting his elders—no, wait, he was Pascal’s superior now. So, the junior decisively gave the man disrupting their morale a sharp chop to the neck.

"You two aren’t even married yet, so how can you talk about her ’remarrying’?

"We are absolutely not going to be killed by these disgusting things. Look! The Magic Guild’s station is right ahead, and it hasn’t been breached."

"Once we get there, we’ll be in a temporary safe zone. After we rest and regroup, calling for reinforcements or breaking out of the city will be no problem."

The Magic Guild station was currently surrounded by a high-voltage electric wall.

Some of the city’s garrison had escorted civilians to the Guild earlier to seek shelter, and they had brought barbed wire with them.

The barbed wire should have been useless against monsters that felt no pain and didn’t fear bleeding. Fortunately, the Guild had discovered during the fighting that the vile creatures had a weakness to electric currents. They combined Thunder Spells with these excellent conductors to create an exceptionally effective defensive line.

Within the area enclosed by the electrified wire, many civilians huddled together in fear. The garrison and some of the braver civilians wielded long poles, pushing back any "trespassing" Flesh Monsters.

Some of the monsters were large enough to weigh down the barbed wire. Though paralyzed in the process, other monsters could then use their bodies as a bridge to cross into the enclosure and begin a slaughter. That was when soldiers and civilians had to fight side-by-side.

The station was a hard target, so the density of monsters around it was extremely high. They piled up, emitting a foul stench that was a mix of scorched flesh and decay. The Mage Corps unleashed their last few Magic spells, struggling to charge up to the electrified perimeter.

"Hey! Let us in!"

"We’re Casters..." "I’m with the Guild! Let us in!" Just then, a wave of flesh monsters receded, their numbers dwindling significantly and giving the Mages a glimmer of hope.

But there was no sign of the electric fence shutting down. The Guild’s Apprentices and staff were nowhere to be seen. The civilians inside merely glanced at them numbly, writing them off as a group of outsiders who were about to be annihilated.

’These bastards...’ The members of the Mage Corps seethed inwardly, but with the tide of flesh monsters threatening to surge again, they continued to plead desperately. Finally, they realized the people inside had no intention of helping them, nor were they willing to take the risk of shutting down the high-voltage defense line.

"Do you have any more barbed wire? Or other supplies?" Paul gave up trying to get in and decided to ask the people inside the safe zone for materials instead.

Fortunately, the people inside agreed to share this time, probably on the orders of the Guild staff. Since they couldn’t get into the building, the ordinary people at the edge of the enclosure reluctantly tossed a few bundles of barbed wire, some full water canteens, and dry rations to the Mage Corps.

"Thanks. Things seem to have quieted down for a moment. Let’s move, quickly." Paul led the baffled group into an adjacent building, where they climbed to the second floor and set up the barbed wire.

Richard didn’t understand. "Why aren’t we going into the Guild? We should have kept negotiating." Now, all they had to do was guard against the Flesh Monsters climbing up the stairs and through the windows. Plus, the Guild station was drawing a lot of attention, giving the Mage Corps a chance to breathe.

Paul gulped down a Concentrated Energy Potion, and the pain in his head subsided slightly. He glanced out the window and flung an arc of lightning to knock a monster away, revealing the Guild building beyond.

"They’ve made the same mistake we made at the start," Paul said, staring intently at the electrified safe zone. "They didn’t consider an attack from underground."

The Flesh Monsters’ relentless siege finally ceased, leaving only twitching, paralyzed clumps of flesh around the electric fence. The defenders were suddenly bewildered, unsure if the nightmare was truly over or if this was just the calm before the storm.

No one expected it. The tightly shut doors of the Guild hall were suddenly blasted open by a force from within, sending several blurry, spherical objects and unidentifiable fragments flying out.

One by one, the figures of Blood Knights appeared, brandishing their sabers and indiscriminately slaughtering the ordinary people who had taken refuge there. A dark-red torrent spewed out from behind them. Clearly, everyone inside the Guild had been annihilated.