Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Claude held Juno tightly in his arms, their faces as white as sheets.

Claude’s lips trembled as he looked at the crazed Cardinal on the high platform, then at the apocalyptic scene unfolding in the sky. An immense fear and confusion threatened to consume him.

They were just ordinary civilians who believed in Oriane, grateful to the lord and lady who had given Bobby this opportunity. But all of this...

The Cardinal’s roars, the falling "Sun"...

’What in the world have we gotten caught up in?’

"Bobby! Come here!" Juno screamed when she saw her daughter, desperately trying to push her way over.

Bobby heard her mother’s call and tried to go to her, but she was swept along by the chaotic crowd, stumbling and nearly falling.

Just then, a small, cool, but firm hand grabbed her wrist tightly.

It was Mo Ling.

Her face was also pale, and the strange unease in her heart had not faded. As she looked at the falling sun in the sky, she felt not fear, but a deep sorrow, and two streams of tears slid unconsciously down her cheeks.

She gripped Bobby’s hand, pulling her close and using her own slight frame to shield Bobby from the jostling crowd.

"Don’t be afraid, Bobby." Mo Ling’s voice was tinged with tears, but she fought to keep it steady as she stared at the wildly laughing Adrian on the platform. "He’s spouting nonsense! My father is not a Demon! The Sun... the Sun isn’t falling!"

She didn’t fully understand what was happening, but she believed in her father.

’Father is the most powerful person in the world, and he promised Mother he would be fine.’

’That hateful Cardinal... She didn’t believe a single word he said!’

"But... but..." Bobby looked into Mo Ling’s tear-filled yet determined eyes, and her panicked heart found a sliver of reassurance. Still, the terrifying power in the sky, drawing ever closer as if to crush the world, made her tremble.

Eleanor ignored Adrian’s clamor, not even sparing him another glance.

Her gaze swept over the panicked apprentices and parents, over Bobby’s parents with their deathly pale faces, and finally landed on Mo Ling, who held Bobby’s hand tightly, her small face tense but her back ramrod straight.

A soft glimmer flickered in her eyes. Then, completely suppressing her sorrow, she raised her voice again, its invisible power piercing through the din:

"In my name as the Principal of the Tower of Revelation, I order all tutors to immediately lead their apprentices to the underground shelters according to protocol! Knight Order, secure the passages and prioritize the evacuation of apprentices and the public!"

Her commands were clear and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

It was as if neither the world-ending sight in the sky nor the Cardinal’s madness on the stage was enough to shake her in the slightest.

"No one is to evacuate!"

Adrian lunged forward, blocking Eleanor’s path as he roared.

The twisted lines of his wild laughter remained on his face, now laced with a ferocious authority.

"Who dares move without orders! As of this moment, this place is under the jurisdiction of the College of Cardinals! No one is to leave the square without an order from the College! Violators will be charged with abandoning the faith and colluding with heresy!"

Several Temple Knight Captains who already leaned toward the old faction instinctively straightened up, blocking several of the main evacuation routes.

"Cardinal Adrian, what an impressive display of authority!"

A steady, powerful voice spoke up.

A middle-aged man in the grey robes of a "Priest Tutor," his face lean and severe, stepped out from the crowd.

He fearlessly met Adrian’s gaze. "In this time of crisis, instead of protecting the people and the students, you obstruct their escape. Is this the ’Path’ of a Cardinal?"

Adrian’s eyes hardened and he was about to speak, but the hitherto silent Ambrosius slowly stepped forward.

His murky gaze fell upon the grey-robed tutor, his voice icy. "Since when does a Wizard from the Silver Tower dare to lecture a Cardinal of the Church Court? Without that Demon’s protection, do you intend to openly oppose the Church Court as well?"

Upon hearing this, the grey-robed tutor, far from being afraid, let out a soft chuckle laced with an inscrutable meaning. "Cardinal Ambrosius, you are mistaken."

He turned slightly toward Eleanor. "Daughter of the great King of Wizards, Principal Temeris. The situation is critical. I believe you may be in need of some ’real’ assistance."

"Cut your hypocritical act!" Eleanor interrupted, her voice cold and her gaze like ice. "You colluded with the old faction in secret, fanning the flames, and now you want to take advantage of the crisis?"

"Colluded? No, no, Your Excellency, you misunderstand." The Wizard from the Silver Tower shook his head, his tone still placid. "Our goals were temporarily aligned with Cardinal Adrian’s faction, but we are by no means walking the same path."

"We have simply seen reality for what it is. Regardless of whether... the great King of Wizards left behind any contingencies after his ’fall,’ you and the forces behind you alone have no chance of perfectly resisting the Church Court’s ’rectification.’ And neither does our Silver Tower."

"Therefore, we must join forces. Only by working together can we, in the aftermath of this catastrophe, secure a sliver of existence for the flame of the wizards’ path. This isn’t taking advantage of a crisis; this is... the wisdom of survival."

"Absurd!" Adrian snarled. "You gutter rats, you think you’re worthy of discussing an alliance?"

The Wizard from the Silver Tower just smiled, unfazed, and turned his gaze back to Eleanor, awaiting her response.

Eleanor felt a cold exhaustion spreading from the depths of her heart.

The chaos before her, the old faction’s madness, the Silver Tower’s scheming, and most importantly... Father...