"Harlan, give me an explanation."

  Back at the command center, Jareth dismissed the chiliarchs, leaving only Harlan and Darius. He then turned, fixing a stern gaze on Harlan.

  Harlan kept his expression emotionless, his voice cold and hard. "I am one of the commanders of this operation. Provided it does not affect the overall plan, I have the authority to alter the defense zone of a single Wizard Apprentice."

  Darius frowned. "Don't give us that bureaucratic nonsense. Harlan, you know very well that Pierce is no ordinary apprentice. Standing behind him is Master Morven!"

  Harlan twitched the corner of his mouth and said stiffly, "You may fear Morven, but I do not."

  Jareth and Darius exchanged a glance, a flicker of understanding passing through their eyes. For Harlan to speak so boldly, he must have secured a powerful backer.

  After a moment of silence, Jareth sighed and shook his head. "You are too impulsive. The struggles between wizards are not something we martial artists should meddle in."

  Harlan’s expression shifted slightly. He let out a cold snort but said nothing.

  Jareth shook his head and turned to leave. Darius gave Harlan a complicated look. "I don't know what benefits they offered you... but you'd best watch yourself."

  With that, he too flung his sleeves and departed.

  The room returned to silence. Harlan stood alone, his expression fluctuating.

  Outside the window, bright moonlight pierced through the clouds, casting a thin layer of silver frost on the floor. In the silent stillness, a wisp of moonlight seemed to come alive, rising slowly like mist and condensing into a vague figure clad in a long robe.

  Harlan seemed to sense something and turned abruptly. Upon seeing the visitor, his tense body instantly relaxed.

  He bowed slightly, his demeanor respectful. "My Lord."

  The figure made a faint nasal sound and said indifferently, "How is the matter proceeding?"

  Harlan replied respectfully, "I have already assigned Pierce to the most dangerous Zone No. 28. I have also instructed my confidants on the first defensive line of the City Guard; they will 'appropriately' relax their vigilance and drive more heretics to break out toward Pierce's direction."

  "Barring any accidents, with Pierce's strength, he will absolutely be unable to withstand that intensity of impact."

  "He will either die in battle in Zone No. 28 or abandon his post and flee. If it is the latter, I can execute him on the spot for desertion, with full justification!"

  "Good." The figure nodded with satisfaction. "Do it cleanly. I do not wish to see any accidents; otherwise, you know the consequences."

  Harlan's expression tightened, and he hurriedly said, "Yes, My Lord! I guarantee I will not disappoint you!"

  After a few seconds of hesitation, he couldn't help but ask, "My Lord, Pierce is, after all, the top student of the first year and Morven's disciple. If he dies here, will The Spire Academy..."

  The figure glanced at him, his tone indifferent. "No matter how outstanding the aptitude, an apprentice is ultimately just an apprentice."

  "No one will offend an Official Wizard for the sake of a dead apprentice. I have my ways to settle things with the Academy. As for Morven... the enmity between our Pei family and him is already deep enough."

  Seeing that Harlan still looked worried, the figure pondered for a moment and threw him a bone.

  "After this matter is concluded, resign from the City Guard. The Aurora Council is preparing to develop a new plane. I will secure a position for you as a Chiliarch in the Planar Expeditionary Force."

  Harlan was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly. "Thank you for your patronage, My Lord!"

  The figure nodded slightly. The next second, his form dissolved into the void like melting snow.

  Harlan straightened up, the fire of ambition burning in his eyes. After pulling off this job, he could leave this profitless City Guard and seek true wealth on the planar battlefield! With luck, he might even use this opportunity to break through to the Legendary realm!

  ...

  As the suppression operation officially began, the entire City Guard garrison began to operate at full speed like a precise war machine.

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  Countless fully armed soldiers poured out of the garrison, spreading in all directions like flowing mercury. Wizard Apprentices and knight students mingled among them, rushing to their respective defense zones.

  About half an hour later.

  Pierce, leading Sia and Peyton, arrived at the location marked as Zone No. 28.

  It was a three-way intersection at the boundary of the block, flanked by dense residential buildings, with a straight road ahead leading to the manor.

  Looking at the block shrouded in the gloomy night, a glint flashed in Pierce's eyes.

  Behind him, Sia looked grave, clearly recognizing the danger of the terrain—once the enemy broke out, this was a necessary path, with no defensible positions. Peyton, on the other hand, looked relaxed, craning his neck to look around.

  A moment later, Pierce turned around, saw Sia's worried look, and smiled. "Don't worry. If there's real danger, I'll cover your retreat."

  Sia gave a bitter smile. At a time like this, this lord still had the mind to joke.

  Peyton took it seriously, shaking his head like a rattle, his voice booming. "That won't do! Our duty is to protect your safety, My Lord. How can we let you cover us? If there's danger, you retreat first, and I'll bring up the rear!"

  Pierce laughed despite himself. Sia rolled her eyes at the simpleton, but the banter did ease the tension slightly.

  The night was silent, and time ticked by.

  About ten minutes later, a thunderous roar suddenly came from the distance.

  Sia and Peyton looked up sharply.

  Several kilometers away, the night sky above the manor was torn apart. Countless thick lightning snakes danced wildly in the void, illuminating the area for a thousand meters in a pale white light.

  Pierce gazed into the distance, feeling the violent tremors in the air. "This is... the aura of spatial fluctuations."

  The battle between Official Wizards had begun. Power of that level could destroy a city block with a casual strike. Fortunately, the City Guard had already set up barriers to isolate the aftershocks.

  "Prepare for battle," Pierce withdrew his gaze and said calmly. "The guests are coming."

  As if to verify his words, a chaotic roar and the light of spells suddenly came from the distance.

  The heretics fleeing the manor had crashed into the first defensive line of the City Guard.

  Sia drew her longsword, ready for combat. Peyton licked his lips excitedly, the militant factor in his Barbarian blood thoroughly ignited.

  However, to Sia's astonishment, the distant battle lasted only a moment before quickly subsiding. Immediately after, many dark shadows sped toward them like ghosts under the night sky, their speed alarming.

  "What happened?" Sia looked shocked. "Is the City Guard's defense line made of paper? Breached so quickly?"

  Pierce looked calm, not surprised in the least.

  To want him dead, assigning a dangerous zone wasn't enough. Harlan had indeed tampered with the first defensive line, intentionally letting the enemy through to direct all the pressure here.

  If Zone No. 28 was originally Hard Mode, Harlan's move had turned it into Hell Mode.

  —Of course, this also meant more "points."

  In just a few breaths, the shadows rushed to the intersection.

  By the bright moonlight, Pierce saw the newcomers clearly.

  There were 26 of them.

  Nearly half of them had skin that appeared dark grey and granite-like, exuding a metallic texture—Stoneskin, the signature ability of Disciples.

  Three of them were covered in heavy rock armor, the ground trembling as they ran, resembling three moving stone fortresses.

  Sia's face turned instantly pale.

  "Three Peak Grand Knights!"

  This lineup was simply despairing!

  An ordinary Rank 3 apprentice would struggle against one Peak Grand Knight, and here there were three! Plus nine High Grand Knights and a swarm of Corrupted...

  This was practically a death sentence!

  "So it's just three wet-behind-the-ears brats."

  The leading scar-faced Disciple stopped, sweeping a cold gaze over the three, a mocking smile on his face.

  "Those damn wizards actually sent this trash to block the road? Do they really think we're soft persimmons?"

  "Stop wasting time. Kill them and rush into the residential area!"

  The heretics all grinned savagely. They had expected heavy resistance, but the roadblock turned out to be so fragile. Once they killed these three and blended into the civilian area, they would be completely safe.

  Facing more than twenty murderous enemies, Sia subconsciously gripped her sword hilt, her knuckles turning white.

  Only Pierce remained composed throughout.

  He scanned the crowd, even nodding slightly, as if counting goods on a shelf.

  "Three Peaks, two Highs, three Mediums... plus the small fry, a total of 426 Merit Points."

  "Not bad. Richer than I expected."

  The corners of his mouth curled into a faint arc.

  "Tonight is a night of harvest."

  At these words, not only were Sia and Peyton stunned, but the opposing heretics also froze for a moment.

  Then, the scar-faced Disciple flew into a rage. "A mere apprentice, talking so big! I hope your mouth is still this tough when I crush your skull!"

  "Kill!"

  With a command, the heretics lunged forward like a pack of wolves.

  Sia and Peyton gritted their teeth, preparing to engage, but they saw Pierce suddenly raise his right hand.

  No incantation, no preparation.

  A flash of light at his fingertips, and ten points of starlight shot out, expanding in the wind into ten fist-sized Magic Missiles, trailing blue flames as they smashed overwhelmingly toward a High Grand Knight Disciple at the front.

  The Disciple hadn't expected the attack to come so fast; caught off guard, he could only dodge clumsily.

  However, the missiles turned weirdly in mid-air, pursuing him like maggots on bone, and struck him with precision.

  Thud thud thud!

  Dull thuds resonated. The High Disciple with Stoneskin protection was instantly riddled with holes. Before he could even scream, he fell backward, dead.

  "Silent Casting?!"

  The scar-faced Disciple turned pale with horror. An apprentice had mastered such a high-level technique?!

  "There's something wrong with this kid! Attack together, don't hold back!"

  He roared and accelerated toward Pierce. The other heretics reacted as well, exploding with their strongest auras.

  Sia was shocked and shouted, "Peyton, protect the Lord!"

  Just as the two were about to move forward, they saw Pierce calmly raise his left hand and shake his cuff.

  A wisp of dense black mist shot out like an arrow.

  Under the night sky, the black mist multiplied—one into ten, ten into a hundred, a hundred into a thousand...

  In a split second, the empty street was filled with thousands of black crows out of thin air.

  The dense flock gathered together like a black flood blotting out the sky, carrying a suffocating pressure as it swept toward the terrified heretics!

  In this moment, the entire block seemed dyed in the black of death.