Ritual

Mian walked into the house, feeling somewhat helpless.

But unexpectedly, Enlaisi was not trapped in the bathroom; instead, he was constantly pacing around the living room.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his hair a bit messy. Pure magical spiritual light flowed from his palms, sketching out complex and profound lines on the floor in time with his slow and precise movements.

The tables and chairs in the living room had been moved outside, making the space look quite spacious now.

"Uh... Teacher, did you find some paper?" Mian asked, somewhat confused.

Enlaisi tossed over a blueprint. Mian caught it and saw a profound magic array drawn on it.

Unlike ordinary magic arrays, the structure of this array appeared quite chaotic and disorderly. The intersecting lines did not follow traditional magical energy circuits; it looked like the ravings of a madman forcibly given physical form.

Mian was completely unable to determine the array's function.

"What is this?" Mian looked up, his eyes filled with confusion and a trace of imperceptible vigilance.

"Help me set it up," Enlaisi grinned. "Wolund's birthday is in a couple of days. We are going to give him a huge surprise."

"Oh..."

Mian suppressed the doubts in his heart, nodded, and began to set up the magical hubs according to the locations indicated on the blueprint.

Only then did he realize that the layout of the house was somewhat off.

After the tables and chairs were emptied and the sofa moved to the side, Mian discovered that the entire layout of the house was constructed around a massive magic array.

The wood grain of the floorboard showed subtle yet regular abnormal patterns in certain areas; the moldings in the corners were not mere decorations, their continuous lines cleverly concealed the circulation of magical circuits.

Something seemed wrong... To go to such great lengths just for Principal Wolund's birthday seemed far too excessive.

These setups had clearly been started years ago.

Mian looked at Enlaisi. His teacher was still busy, his expression looking quite calm, his profile sharply defined under the magical glow. Those eyes, which were usually full of banter or laziness, were now fixed intently on the array lines, holding a light Mian had never seen before, a mixture of resolve, pain, and fanaticism. Those broad hands that used to gently pat his shoulders were now trembling slightly.

"Teacher Enlaisi..." Mian spoke, his voice dry. He wanted to ask for clarity, to stop this obviously bizarre situation.

However, his words came to an abrupt halt.

A cold, powerful force descended without warning, instantly seizing control of his body. His vocal cords couldn't vibrate, his limbs stiffened like stone sculptures, and even moving his eyes became incredibly difficult.

As Enlaisi finished setting up the final point, the entire magic array suddenly lit up. It was no longer the gentle spiritual light from before, but a gloomy, ominous dark red glow, like blood flowing across the floor.

"It's done..." Enlaisi's tone held no joy, only endless exhaustion and a sense of relief that the dust had settled.

Mian couldn't turn his head. He could only hear the familiar yet incredibly unfamiliar sigh of his teacher from behind. Then, a gentle stream of magic softly entered the back of his head.

There was no pain, only boundless darkness surging like a tide, rapidly submerging Mian's consciousness...

"Enlaisi? What are you doing!" Outside, Wolund noticed the situation inside the house, and his brows instantly shot up.

Enlaisi had said he wanted to get together, and Wolund naturally wouldn't refuse. Because he was here today, the watchers had naturally been sent away... He never expected that Enlaisi would pull such a stunt right in front of him.

"Enlaisi! Don't do anything stupid!" Wolund acted decisively. A scepter appeared in his hand as violent fire elements surged, and several fireballs materialized behind him.

Unlike ordinary fireball spells, these fireballs seemed to condense into physical forms, with crimson halos flowing across their surfaces like miniature suns.

Shape did not represent power. Although the fireball spell was considered low-level... a sphere was the most primal, simple, and brutal form.

But suddenly thinking of something, Wolund gritted his teeth, and all the fireballs behind him faded away.

This was a residential area... If the power of the Sun Wheel Fireballs exploded, it would instantly turn this entire area into a sea of fire.

The scorching fire elemental energy was forcibly reshaped by Wolund's astonishing control, transforming into an incredibly solid flaming longsword with edges glinting with incandescent light.

Hum—

The flaming longsword seemed to slash into a curtain of water. After emitting a wisp of white smoke, it dissipated silently.

Wall of Vacuum, a wind-element defensive magic that highly countered the fire element! That guy Enlaisi had actually set up countermeasures around the area well in advance!

Boom—

There was movement inside the house.

A massive tornado pillar shot into the sky, directly tearing off the house's ceiling and sending bricks, tiles, and wooden beams flying in all directions. The tornado rushed straight toward the defensive barrier above Olifendo.

The barrier was not that fragile; Enlaisi's power alone could not shake it in the slightest.

But Wolund's heart skipped a beat.

Enlaisi's goal was clearly not to destroy the defensive barrier... he was sending a signal!

Who was he sending a signal to... and what was his true purpose?

Wolund grew increasingly anxious as he looked at the figure inside the house.

Enlaisi's house had become like a violently torn-open gift box. The roof was blown off, the walls collapsed, and everything inside was exposed to the outside.

"You'd better give me an explanation, Enlaisi!" Wolund's voice revealed little emotion, remaining calm and chilling.

"I'm sorry, but I have something I must do, Wolund." Enlaisi did not meet Wolund's eyes.

Mian was currently lying dead center in the magic array, unconscious.

"What are you going to do to Mian?" Wolund naturally saw that whatever Enlaisi was about to do seemed to involve Mian. "He is your student!"

"That's right. He is the person I have wronged the most." Enlaisi sighed, then took a pipe from his coat pocket. With trembling hands, he lit the tobacco for himself in the empty house.

"Did you know, Wolund, I actually hate the smell of smoke the most... It's very choking, it makes me feel suffocated." Enlaisi blew out a large smoke ring. "It's awful."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing... I just wanted to chat with you a bit more at the very end." Enlaisi smiled somewhat bitterly. He glanced around, and failing to see a chair, simply plopped down onto the floor.

Wolund attempted to use magic of other attributes to break through the Wall of Vacuum in front of him, but this was clearly a spell Enlaisi had set up in advance with a drawn array. Even he, lacking any preparation on such short notice and being restricted at every turn, could do nothing about it.