A full day passed, and it was finally time to assault the Deepwater Shark Zone.
The letters hadn't lied about Jerald's plans for attack. He would attack the Zones as described at the described time.
Shortly before 12 pm, Shang took to the skies by flying on Sword.
After some minutes, Shang scanned the entire Deepwater Shark Zone, except for the deep depths of the lake. After all, the Skythunder Kingdom was their enemy, not the beasts. Shang also doubted that the Skythunder Kingdom would have some kind of ambush planned while being at the bottom of a lake. The risk of accidentally having to fight a powerful beast at the bottom was too high.
Even if the beast were killed, everyone outside the lake would notice the battle most likely.
After scanning the entire Deepwater Shark Zone, Shang only saw a single Initial High Mage, and the Mage was just standing in front of the biggest city of the Deepwater Shark Zone with a worried expression.
High up in the air, Shang summoned a Communication Crystal. "Mervin, Perov, there is only a single Initial High Mage stationed in the entire Zone, and she's just waiting in front of the city. I'm unsure of her intentions."
"Affirmative," Perov answered. "My unit will take it from here."
Shang put the Communication Crystal away and simply stayed in the air.
By now, his augmenting Spells had already faded, but he didn't need them right now.
After a while, Shang saw several warriors enter his Spirit Sense. They were charging towards the biggest city while the other warriors swept through the surroundings of the huge lake.
Eventually, the group of warriors and the Mage entered each other's Spirit Sense.
Then, Shang saw the warriors suddenly halt, and he furrowed his brows.
The warriors only stood there and waited.
Obviously, the Mage and the warriors were talking, but Shang couldn't think of any words that would halt the assault of this group of warriors.
After some seconds, Shang saw one of the warriors take out a Communication Crystal.
The warrior looked at the Communication Crystal for a couple of seconds before putting it away again.
Then, everyone continued waiting.
The Mage continued standing in front of the city while the warriors continued standing a couple of kilometers away from her.
Shang had no idea what was going on.
Two minutes passed.
Then, Jerald arrived, and Shang's eyes narrowed.
What could possibly bring Jerald to this place? Just showing up to a battle could create suspicions that he secretly interfered in the battle.
It was very dangerous for Jerald to be here.
While the other warriors waited in the distance, Jerald stepped closer as he took out some form of shining golden crystal.
Shang recognized the crystal since he had used a similar one in the past.
It was a Magic device that allowed Mages to record the surroundings, similar to a camera. Shang had used the crystal back then before he made the Adamantite Behemoth annihilate Duke Mithril's home.
"I am Duke Whirlwind," Jerald said to the crystal with a severe tone. "As you can see, I am currently standing between my army and the enemy."
Jerald moved the crystal around to show the current state of affairs.
"I have not gotten involved, but I have been summoned here by the sole defender of Startrade City."
Jerald showed the distant Mage to the crystal.
"It is currently 12:02 pm, and we have not yet launched our attack due to a concerning matter."
"The Council created a diabolic scheme to frame me for an atrocity."
Shang raised an eyebrow when he heard that.
Jerald stepped forward and closed in on the enemy Mage.
The Mage only looked at the crystal with enraged and pained eyes.
She had definitely made a decision that was not easy to make, based on her expression.
"Please introduce yourself. This will be proof of the Council's horrible and horrifying plan," Jerald said.
"Countess Conny Deepsea," the High Mage said with a stressed voice as even some tears gathered in her eyes.
Jerald nodded. "You were the one that summoned me, correct?"
"Correct," she answered.
"Why have you summoned me?"
"Because I can't take it anymore," she whimpered. "I've worked so long for the Council. I have been loyal, and I have performed my duties with all of my will and loyalty."
"Yet, they have chosen me for this horrible mission."
Jerald nodded. "And what is your mission?"
Conny took a deep breath.
"To blow up Startrade City and blame it on you."
Shang took a deep breath as he looked at the city.
This was a major trading hub, and there were over 20,000 people living there!
"How was the plan supposed to go down?" Jerald asked.
"I have received a very powerful Magic Circle, and I have planted it below the city. It is hidden by many cloaking Spells, and it is impossible to find it without very closely examining the entire city."
"It will explode as soon as I leave from the vicinity of the city, when I die, when my mind is read, or when I manually trigger it."
Jerald nodded. "And what did they do to convince you to do this? After all, you would not survive this mission."
Conny broke down into tears.
"They have my husband and my two children. They are willing to foster them into powerful members of the Skythunder Kingdom if I go through with this mission."
"They didn't mention what would happen to them if I were to decline the mission, but I know what they were implying."
"If I were to refuse, all of us would die."
Jerald kept holding the golden crystal. "And why did you decide to inform me about this?"
"Because I don't trust the Council anymore!" Conny shouted with a desperate and furious voice.
"I have neither supported nor hated the warriors. I don't care what happens to them!"
"However, I can acknowledge that they have helped us in the past, and without their support, we might have already become the Magic Purity Kingdom."
"But as soon as the warriors gained the potential to threaten them, they immediately treated them like enemies!"
"It didn't even matter if the warriors wanted to rebel or not!"
"Just because they had the power, they became the targets of the Council's suppression and hate!"
"I don't care for warriors, but after seeing what the Council has done to an integral ally, I can't trust them anymore!"
"Would they really leave my family alive?"
"What if my family found out the secret of my death and searched for revenge?"
"As soon as the warriors became a threat, the Council attacked them, and I fear that the same might happen to my family."
"I fear that they will just kill my family regardless of if I complete the mission or not."
"That is why I have called for you."
"I don't care which side wins!"
"I don't care if you kill the Council or if you get killed by the Council!"
"I just want my family back, and you're the only option I have left!"
Conny fully burst out crying at this point.
"I only want my family," she whispered.
Jerald continued standing in front of Conny with the golden crystal.
"Where is the Magic Circle located?" he asked.
Conny gave the precise location to Jerald.
"It will be difficult to deactivate it since it's surrounded by a Magic Circle that notices other presences. If anyone at the Fourth Realm gets within 50 meters of it, it will explode."
"That won't be a problem. We have a way to deal with it," Jerald said.
A second later, Shang landed in front of the city.
Shang had his Domain of Entropy, and he could deactivate the Magic Circle surrounding the explosive Magic Circle with it.
The Mage continued crying.
Shang turned to Jerald and the Mage and approached them.
He stopped in front of them.
Jerald looked at the Mage. "You have done a great service to humankind as a whole today," he told the Mage. "I will publicize this recording. I don't think that the Council has killed your family yet, and if your family suddenly disappeared, it would prove what you have said to be true."
"What are the names of your husband and two children?"
"Joran, Leticia, Maer," she said through tears.
Jerald nodded and looked at the crystal.
"Joran, Leticia, and Maer Deepsea. Let's all hope that the Council hasn't yet killed them."
The Mage continued crying.
"Today, Conny Deepsea has saved 20,000 people. I will accept her as a citizen in my new Kingdom due to her contributions, but she still has to pay somewhat for her actions in the past. Because of that, she will have to work in the Storm Eagle Zone, but only for ten years. After that, she will join us as a fully-fledged citizen."
"Are you glad that the 20,000 citizens are now safe, Conny?" Jerald asked.
Conny only nodded without looking up.
Jerald smiled and looked at the crystal again. "To all the people in the Skythunder Kingdom, you now know the true face of the Council!"
"Decide if you truly want to join them or not!"
The crystal pointed at Shang again. "We can call ourselves lucky that Count Sword was here with his unique power to stop Magic Circles."
"With the Magic Circle diffused, the citizens managed to survive!"
At that moment, Conny noticed that something wasn't right.
Earlier, it had sounded like Duke Whirlwind was confident in Count Sword's power, but now, Duke Whirlwind was talking like they had already diffused the Magic Circle.
Then, the golden crystal was deactivated.
BANG!
Shang exploded forward and wrapped his hands around Conny's neck.
Her eyes opened wide in terror.
The Mana and life energy inside her were vanishing!
She couldn't do anything!
