First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

The magicians summoned from the capital gathered at the foot of the volcano and surrounded it in a circle.

The magicians raised their arms and connected their bursting magical power, gradually forming a huge magic array encircling the volcano.

Shimmering lights stretched magnificently for hundreds of miles.

Many magical steel nails affixed to the volcano were affected by the magic array, and the magical chains attached began to clank and penetrate deeper into the volcano.

Runes were carved onto the array, making the enormous formation increasingly dense, spreading endlessly towards hundreds of miles away.

Second order magicians stood below the third order magicians, continuously supplying them with magical power.

Until the first batch of second order magicians were exhausted, the second batch took over.

After the earliest batch of second order magicians had rested, they got back on the field, round after round.

Over a dozen third order magicians concentrated and began chanting towards the center of the array:

“God of the Abyss weep! Gather the cold of the world!”

“Merciful Yellow God plead! Sing the tears of the underworld!”

…

Although Erika was the Duke’s daughter, she would not receive any special treatment.

She was also assigned to the ranks of second order magicians.

After the knights evacuated the civilians, they guarded nearby to protect the magicians from disturbance.

Magic attracts monsters, so they stood guard around the magicians, killing any monsters that approached.

“The longer this magic array covers the entire Mount Vesuvius, the more powerful the effects will be.”

As a third order magician, Duke Rivierre was doing his utmost to maintain the array, hoping this volcano’s eruption could be delayed a little longer.

If this grand array could be maintained for a full day, it would definitely be able to completely block the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

And so it continued for an hour, the previous batch of second order magicians came down the mountain, replaced by the next batch.

Erica was among this batch of magicians, standing behind Duke Rivierre, she began chanting softly, channeling her power to her father.

While chanting spells and drawing the array, Duke Rivierre kept an eye on Erika’s every move.

Seeing Erika hold her own, he felt somewhat gratified in his heart.

“Erika, you’ve grown up.”

The second batch of magicians came down, and the third batch was about to go up, but Erika did not come down.

She secretly drank a blue potion bought from Lia, and instantly felt her mental strength replenished.

Duke Rivierre saw Erika continuing on, somewhat surprised, and also very happy.

“I didn’t expect Erika to have so much mental fortitude.”

“At her age, I was far from comparable to her.”

After another hour, the third batch of magicians came down. The fourth batch of magicians had already gone up.

Erika still stood in the array, continuing to channel power to Duke Rivierre.

She secretly drank another potion, her spirit fully restored again.

If Duke Rivierre was just surprised earlier, now he was completely shocked!

“Erika’s talent is actually so terrifying!?”

“Her astonishing mental reserves have surpassed many third order magicians already.”

As Erika’s father, he only just realized now how powerful his daughter was!

Soon, the fourth batch of magicians also exhausted their power and gradually came down to rest.

Erika secretly drank another potion and kept supplying power.

The third order magicians around Duke Rivierre all noticed Erika.

It had already been four hours, where was she getting so much magical power?

Could it be, in the heart of this genius girl, she harbored a vast ocean called ‘magic’!?

These magicians couldn’t help but ask the Duke:

“Duke Rivierre, is your daughter a monster? To have such terrifying mental reserves.”

“That’s right, I’ve never seen anyone’s ox that can continuously plow the fields for so long!”

Duke Rivierre began to worry, afraid his daughter was overexerting herself and causing irreversible damage by depletion.

But seeing that she still seemed very relaxed, he took back what he was about to say.

What exactly was going on?

He couldn’t figure it out.

Until five hours later, the first batch of the second round of magicians had already come down the mountain to rest again. The second order magicians who were supposed to be in the same group as Erika once again ascended the peak.

As a result, they saw the Duke’s daughter.

She still stood under the Duke Rivierre in the array, like an astonishing light bulb, radiating the glow of magic all over.

Erica Duquois stealthily drank a potion after each group of mages went down, in order to keep her mana at a relatively easy level.

Erica felt their shocked and amazed gazes, and was extremely proud of her actions.

‘Thanks to Professor Victor’s potions, I can keep going!’

‘Father will surely look at me with new eyes!’

She was still feeling elated, when Duke Rivierre’s roar smashed her sober like an iron hammer.

“Erica! Go rest now!”

Erica: “……”

It was the first time she had seen her father so furious at her. For a moment, she cowered in fear and lowered her head as she went down.

Yet her reputation had already spread through the ranks of second-tier mages.

“Who understands that? She’s just abnormal! The first time I went down, she didn’t leave. When I came back the second time, she was still there!”

“You mean Duke Rivierre’s daughter? I think her mental strength is on par with third-tier mages now…”

“Even Professor Victor would have a hard time comparing with her.”

Erica’s hearing was sharp. Hearing these secret praises made her a little arrogant.

When she heard someone comparing her with Victor, she couldn’t help but cheer silently.

But Erica was also very clear that without those potions, she could not have sustained such a long time.

The magical potion came from Victor’s hands…

Thinking of this, those praises sounded extraordinarily ugly to her.

Indeed, she was not as good as Professor Victor.

Perhaps in her lifetime, she would never catch up to him.

“Roar!!!”

Another earth-shattering roar came from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius. Rolling boulders began to collapse, and ash in the sky flew towards the ground.

The black clouds above the volcano seemed to be shattered, with red cracks in between.

The mountain body began to tremble, and the magma inside became restless.

“Look! What’s that?”

A knight pointed at the rain of high-temperature droplets falling from the sky.

The raindrops hit rocks near the crater, causing them to shatter like bombs on impact.

All the mages and knights became alert. The mages immediately drew up temporary magic circles to deal with the crisis, while the knights used magic tools on their armor and silver swords.

Could the volcano erupt now?

Suddenly, a voice rang in Erica’s heart:

“It hurts, it hurts so much…”

“That voice again! What on earth is happening?”

She could clearly hear the voice coming from the top of the volcano. She really wanted to go up and take a look.

Moreover, maybe…Professor Victor was there!

Erica remembered the mages slandering Professor Victor.

She didn’t want to see Victor as the culprit behind the volcano eruption.

But in this situation, anyone would suspect Victor.

The missing Victor, and the soon-to-erupt volcano.

“No, I have to find a way to get to the crater!”

Thinking so, Erica noticed the knight brigade guarding the magic circle nearby.

It was the only female in the knight brigade,

She was very beautiful, the second most beautiful woman Erica had seen after her mother.

The first was the lady at Clayvin’s shop.

Completely different from that lady’s temperament, she was like a knight walking out of the ice, with a cold aura that made people feel distant.

Stay away, stranger.

Erica had heard that this knight was the current leader of the Royal Knights Brigade – Gwen.

She planned to find this lady and ask her to let her out.

“If I just tell her I want to go to the crater, she definitely won’t agree.”

Erica paced around and thought. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

She rushed to Gwen anxiously, as she wished, her behavior drew the other’s attention.

“Excuse me, Sister Knight, I need to use the restroom. Can you let me leave for a moment?”

“No.”

Gwen rejected decisively.

“I must ensure the safety of all of you here. Please bear with it, Miss Erica.”

“Hmph… Cold and rigid knight, only knows how to follow orders.”

Erica grumbled and went back sullenly.

But she became more and more anxious.

The voice from the peak, the missing Victor, everything seemed to be reminding her of something.

She must leave this place and head to the top!

At this moment, Duke Rivierre suddenly appeared next to her and patted her shoulder.

“Eek!”

Erica’s body shuddered, like a startled little bunny.

Duke Rivierre said solemnly:

“Dear, give me an explanation.”