I Pioneered Scientific Magic - Chapter 463 (Patreon)

Chapter 463: Monroe: I'm Really Not a Spy Sent by the Wizards!

Under Monroe's continuous explanations, Pope Alves nodded in agreement, acknowledging that such powerful destruction, comparable to a natural disaster, was beyond even his own capabilities, let alone achievable by a mere grand wizard!

However, attributing it to a natural disaster didn't completely make sense either.

Inside the empire, common natural disasters could generally be classified into earthquakes, thunderstorms, hurricanes, droughts, floods, and meteorite falls...

The first few clearly didn't match the situation, only the scene of a meteorite fall bore some resemblance. But he had inquired with those empire soldiers who had fled back.

It was night at the time; if there were meteorites falling from the sky, they should have been exceptionally visible!

"I suspect this might have been caused by an underground volcanic eruption!" Monroe speculated.

During his time gathering intelligence, he had gone through past issues of the Magic Daily, noticing an extremely important paper published by the Star of Magic a few months ago—【On the Causes of Earthquakes: The Impact of Continental Plate Movement and Underground Magma Activity】!

Although Monroe didn't fully understand it, it mentioned a type of natural disaster called a volcanic eruption.

It's said to be a terrifying disaster caused by the movement of the earth's crust, where magma from the depths of hell flows out through cracks on the surface, turning an area of several miles into a lava hell.

"There's a good chance of that!" Pope Alves said thoughtfully.

Lately, those wizards, despite having the upper hand, have still been hiding, a phenomenon that indeed puzzled him.

If going by Monroe's speculation, it immediately made sense; the other party was bluffing, thereby delaying time to produce more weapons of war...

Thinking this, Pope Alves felt the need to launch a probing attack to determine the enemy's reality!

Seeing the Pope agreed with his view, Monroe felt encouraged and quickly divulged a second crucial piece of intelligence—the vulnerabilities in the wizards' defenses!

It must be said, the council's method of deploying numerous airships as eyes to monitor the entire kingdom was indeed troublesome, making large-scale entry without detection nearly impossible.

However, there was an exception!

That was the Dead Zone outside the City of Fire Oil!

This area had no guards stationed and only a few airships would pass by from a distance. As long as they used the cover of night and divine arts for concealment, they could avoid the wizards' detection.

"But I've heard that this Dead Zone has radiation that even official wizards can't resist, and even after several months, it hasn't completely dissipated." Pope Alves frowned.

"This was also discussed in that paper..." Monroe quickly explained. During a volcanic eruption, a large amount of toxic gas would be emitted, accumulating in the atmosphere to form a terrifying dust cloud, sometimes lasting for months. This might be what the wizards refer to as radiation!

There were naturally ways to counter this, such as wearing masks or goggles to protect the vulnerable eyes, and using a wet cloth to cover the mouth and nose, etc...

Of course, venturing too deep or staying too long, even with protection, would inevitably cause severe damage to the body.

As the saying goes, the most dangerous places are often the safest. Pope Alves naturally understood this principle.

The enemy would never expect them to launch an attack from this place!

"You've done well, Monroe, although there were some issues with the last plan, it can't all be blamed on you..." Pope Alves said soothingly, praising Monroe for his intelligence gathering and analysis abilities, and asking him to continue monitoring the situation within the kingdom.

The three-minute time limit soon arrived, and after ending the communication, Pope Alves didn't rush to issue orders but turned to look at Saint Randall beside him.

"What do you think of Monroe's speculation, how credible is it?"

"I don't think those wizards are capable of casting such powerful magic," Saint Randall said definitively, but such a significant matter, even with a sliver of possibility, needs consideration. Otherwise, a misjudgment could have unthinkable consequences.

So, after a pause, Randall continued, "Hasn't the Holy Maiden directly faced this so-called great nuclear magic? She should know best."

Naturally, the fastest, most accurate method would be to ask!

Pope Alves fell silent for a while without responding.

"Or is the Holy Maiden not currently in the Holy City?" Randall immediately realized this, his face showing a hint of dissatisfaction.

Such important news had not been shared with him by Alves, and he let the incarnation of the Lord leave the protection of the Holy City.

Knowing that the Lord had just changed its vessel of consciousness, it's hard to say how much power it could wield...

"The Holy Maiden has her own plans, not something you and I can interfere with. We just need to do what we're supposed to do, and that's enough!" Alves said indifferently,

 stopping Randall from continuing to inquire, and quickly made a decisive statement.

"Instruct them to use the fastest divine transmission to let Taisis, stationed at the empire's border, lead a team to probe whether those wizards are indeed bluffing."

Randall opened his mouth as if wanting to say something but eventually nodded. "I understand!"

...

On the other side, in the City of Fire Oil, at the wizard academy's faction residence, Monroe, who had just ended the communication, walked out of the room looking somewhat exhausted.

Outside, Ivina Pedrol, just like last time, leaned against the pristine wall, watching out for Monroe but focusing on the Magic Daily in front of her. Upon seeing Monroe emerge, she put down the newspaper and inquired whether the Pope had issued any new orders.

Monroe hesitated. In fact, he was somewhat dissatisfied with his partner Ivina's performance lately, who had begun to research the wizards' experiments, attempting to replicate the free fall and pendulum experiments done by the Star of Magic to verify their authenticity.

This was a highly dangerous signal!

Delving into the wizards' knowledge wasn't an interesting affair; one could easily be misled by forbidden knowledge.

However, Monroe and Ivina weren't in a superior-subordinate relationship, and Monroe had no way to forcibly command the girl to abandon these unrealistic thoughts. Moreover, within the academy, he still relied on Ivina's expertise in forbidden areas to complete those annoying coursework assignments.

Monroe sighed inwardly but ultimately decided to trust his partner. After all, she was recommended by Lord Gustav. Her initiative to sell grain to the council had indeed unearthed some useful information, so he succinctly shared the contents of the recent discussion.

Upon hearing Monroe mention that the wizards' so-called great nuclear magic might only be due to underground magma movement causing a volcanic eruption, and the Star of Magic was merely bluffing to buy more time for military preparations, Ivina's expression suddenly became very strange.

"What's wrong?" Monroe, noticing the change in the girl's expression, couldn't help frowning and asked.

Ivina handed over the newspaper. "This is today's Magic Daily, delivered by a fairy just a minute ago."

Monroe, suppressing his unease, took the Magic Daily and glanced over it.

Ivina explained at this moment, "Those wizards haven't launched a large-scale counterattack in over two months because they were improving the great nuclear magic. Now, it's said to be completed, with its power increased by about eight times compared to before, and it also eliminates the radiation problem caused by the great nuclear magic..."

Monroe had just seen the report on the Magic Daily about the Star of Magic's improvement of nuclear magic when Ivina's words shocked him.

How much? The power increased by eight times?!

Monroe's mind went blank, and then he couldn't help saying, "Absurd! This must be a rumor spread by those wizards to intimidate us..."

Although he hadn't witnessed the power of nuclear magic firsthand, just seeing the aftermath that created the Dead Zone gave him a glimpse of its potential, unquestionably powerful beyond imagination.

And now you're telling me its power can increase by eight times?!

"They have no need to lie because the wizard who developed this magic, the Star of Magic, is planning to publicly experiment with this magic tonight, and also clear the radiation in that Dead Zone, the time... is tonight!" Ivina said solemnly.

The council had no need to tell a lie that would be debunked in a few hours!

Monroe's complexion suddenly changed. Was his speculation wrong, and those wizards really capable of casting magic so terrifying it could destroy cities and countries?

"Wait." Monroe suddenly realized a more serious problem, urgently grabbing Ivina's shoulders, his eyes reddened as he questioned, "You just said those wizards are planning to experiment with this magic tonight, and it's in that Dead Zone?"

"Correct." Ivina nodded, puzzled by Monroe's sudden excitement.

Before she could ask, Monroe had already dashed back into the room, rummaging for the communication crystal orb.

"Hurry... Hurry! Connect me!" Monroe's face was fraught with anxiety, grasping and even shaking the communicator in his hand. Not knowing how to charge the device, given his complete ignorance of alchemy and electromagnetism, he could only pour all his magical power into the crystal orb in desperation.

Before heading to the City of Fire Oil as an infiltrator, Lord Gustav had injected them with demonic power through a strange potion, allowing them to pass the wizards' inspections.

Only after completing their mission could they undergo a baptismal ceremony to completely remove the demonic power.

As continuous magical power was infused, the crystal orb trembled slightly, and a look of joy appeared on Monroe's face, prompting him to increase his effort.

About three minutes later, the crystal orb, forcibly infused with a massive amount of magical power, finally...

Exploded!

...

While Monroe fell into endless despair, the streets

 of the City of Fire Oil were already crowded with people eager to see the spectacle.

"Have you heard? The wizards are planning to pull down the sun from the sky, just like they did over two months ago!" A short, chubby man excitedly began.

A knowledgeable merchant beside him scoffed, "That's Master Lynn's magic, called the great nuclear magic, and it has nothing to do with the sun up there..."

"It is the sun! My grandfather saw Master Lynn fly up to the sky and bring down the scorching sun from the heavens!" A young boy adamantly corrected.

"That's absurd, where does the sun come from at night?" The merchant was immediately amused.

"That's because... because our planet is round, he must have flown to the other side of the continent!" The boy persisted, convinced the wizards had indeed pulled the sun down from the sky.

The sounds of discussion and debate arose everywhere in the City of Fire Oil. Under the promotion of the Magic Daily, almost everyone in the city knew about the Star of Magic, Lynn, planning to experiment with new magic tonight.

Naturally, many were interested, whether wizards or citizens of the City of Fire Oil. Anyone who could spare a moment wouldn't want to miss this event.

Even many citizens of the kingdom specially took trains to come and watch.

To prevent the City of Fire Oil from having a few hundred thousand blind people, the council's alchemists made some minor improvements to the protective barrier covering the entire city, increasing isolation from dangerous radiation and significantly reducing the impact of bright light.

"It's Master Lynn!"

Hours later, someone in the crowded crowd suddenly shouted loudly. Everyone craned their necks and stood on tiptoes, hoping to catch a glimpse of this Star of Magic.

Lynn was still dressed in his usual wizard's robe, not making any special preparations for this grand occasion. He merely took some time during the experiment to clean up a little in the Dead Zone outside the City of Fire Oil, also to deter those with malicious intentions.

A peculiar magical beast, impatiently following behind him, its fur fluttering like flames in the wind, disdainfully flicking its tail, displeased with the humans making inexplicable noises.

For such a scene, Muto naturally had no interest, preferring to lazily wait on the estate's grass, waiting for the fearful humans to bring delicious snacks.

However, seeing it had become too lazy and unresponsive lately, Lynn forcibly dragged Muto out, planning to give it a good lesson.

Lynn stepped up to the city wall, with wizards along the way making way for him, their eyes filled with reverence for the Star of Magic, the creator of the most powerful magic to date, describable only as a man-made natural disaster.

Today, they would finally have the honor to witness this incredibly powerful magic firsthand!

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