255: Chapter 255 The Seal of Conflict in Andalus! A Solution!

Upon hearing this, Rowan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He gently pressed her shoulder and said,

"Garuvi, calm down first."

"Tell me, who injured you? What exactly happened?"

Garuvi took a deep breath, calmed down, and began to recount her experiences during this period.

"After I left the castle, I first went to Aksai City. On the surface, everything at Duke Weiduns Estate seemed normal, but I discovered that their frequency of material mobilization was highly irregular!"

"Large quantities of building materials and magic materials were being secretly transported to other places, such as Cangyuan City, Yabu City... and the depths of the Mess Mountains."

"I prepared to follow this lead, so I infiltrated Cangyuan City."

"But I never imagined that there would actually be a 7th-Ring Wizard stationed in Cangyuan City!"

"He seriously injured me with a single long-range strike. I had to use all my strength to escape."

"But I also roughly investigated and figured out the plot of Duke Weiduns Estate!"

She paused, then said word by word:

"Duke Witton has gone mad! He might be planning to sacrifice more than half of the Will Province!"

"And Gino County is also within the range after those nodes are connected!"

Rowan listened, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"You said Duke Witton wants to sacrifice more than half of the Will Province; how is that possible? Even a legendary powerhouse might not be able to perform a ritual of this scale, right?"

Garuvi shook her head and said somewhat wearily:

"I don't know specifically what method they will use to achieve this, but judging by all the signs I have seen, it should be exactly that!"

Rowan was silent for a moment, then instructed the senior maid beside him:

"Go to the Wizard Tower and invite Miss Aurora over; tell her there is an urgent matter that requires her assistance."

The senior maid nodded quickly and left with hurried steps.

A moment later, light footsteps could be heard outside the door, followed immediately by Aurora's voice:

"Rowan, do you have something you need me for?"

As she spoke, she walked inside.

When she saw the familiar figure lying on the bed, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes:

"Miss Garuvi? You're back? What happened here? Who injured you?"

Seeing her, Garuvi didn't waste any words and directly repeated what she had just said to Rowan.

Upon hearing this, Aurora asked for some more details, then walked to the bedside and carefully examined the wound on Garuvi's left waist that had already been treated.

A moment later, she straightened up, turned to Rowan, and said with a grave expression:

"Rowan, I think Miss Garuvi is telling the truth. Furthermore, if I am not mistaken, I already know who injured her."

"Who is it?" A cold glint flashed in Rowan's eyes.

Aurora slowly uttered a name: "The Ghost Leaf Wizard, Hurley."

"The residual magical aura on this wound carries a chilling characteristic reminiscent of withered leaves; this is one of his signature spells, the Ghost Leaf Ray!"

"The characteristics of this spell are very distinct; it is his unique spell, and I cannot be mistaken."

Immediately after, she paused and said, somewhat confused:

"However, Wizard Hurley had already been a court wizard for the Imperial Royal Family sixty years ago; why would he come to the North to get involved in this mess?"

Rowan heard this and seemed to think of something, but he didn't say it directly, instead asking:

"Can a 7th-Ring Wizard directly sacrifice such a large area through a magic array?"

"Of course not!" Aurora replied without hesitation, but then added:

"However, after hearing Garuvi's description, I roughly know what method they are using."

She extended her finger and traced a complex runic trajectory in the air:

"This large-scale magic array should be the Seal of Andalas Strife. Its function is not to kill people directly, but to emit a special magical fluctuation that imperceptibly influences the minds of those within the array."

"It makes people become irritable, greedy, and suspicious, constantly spreading groundless hostility and hatred, inciting conflict between people."

"In the current environment of the Red Moon's resurgence, the effect of this magic array will be greatly amplified."

"It will also deepen the connection between people and the Red Moon, making those within the array more prone to hearing the Red Moon's whispers, more easily eroded by that madness and violent emotion, and ultimately leading them to kill each other, causing order to collapse completely."

She looked at Rowan, her tone becoming serious:

"In other words, the more densely populated a place is, the greater the destructive power this magic array can cause, and the more blood energy it will collect."

"And now, with so many refugees gathered outside Gino City..."

Rowan's expression changed upon hearing this, and he immediately asked:

"What should we do then?"

Aurora thought for a moment and held up two fingers:

"There are two plans."

"The first plan is to remove all the nodes of the magic array and destroy the structure of the entire array. In this way, the problem will naturally be solved."

"The second plan is to set up a specialized shielding array in the Wizard Tower to resist and neutralize the influence of the Seal of Andalas Strife."

"This plan does not require facing the enemy directly, but it requires a certain amount of time and materials to prepare."

Rowan was somewhat tempted by the first plan upon hearing it.

He already knew the location of the enemy wizard just now, which was in Cangyuan City.

Then, as long as he went directly to kill them and eliminated all those people, he could solve the problem from the root.

He was just about to speak, but Aurora seemed to see through his thoughts and quickly added:

"My Lord, although you have broken through to become a Sky Knight, you must not easily run into the lair of a 7th-Ring spellcaster."

"A 7th-Ring Wizard is a qualitative change; at that level, a spellcaster has already mastered the power at the level of laws, plus their Wizard Tower, various magic items, and pre-arranged defensive arrays..."

"Even a legendary powerhouse would not easily break into the lair of a 7th-Ring Wizard."

"That is too dangerous!"

Just then, Garuvi suddenly widened her beautiful eyes and looked at Rowan, exclaiming:

"Rowan, you have advanced to a Sky Knight?!"

"Ah!" Aurora realized that she had let it slip, quickly covered her mouth, and looked at Rowan somewhat flusteredly, "Did I say something wrong?"

Rowan smiled and waved his hand:

"It's nothing."

Then he looked at Garuvi and said:

"That's right, I have advanced to a Sky Knight. It happened just a few days ago."

Garuvi gasped upon hearing this.

She stared blankly at Rowan, not knowing what to say for a moment.

How long had it been since she left the castle?

She remembered that Rowan wasn't even an Earth Knight before, and now he is a Sky Knight?!

This was a height that countless knights could not reach even in their entire lives!

Garuvi looked at Rowan's young and handsome face, and a wave of inexplicable emotion surged in her heart.

Rowan did not dwell on this topic, but turned to Aurora and asked:

"So, Aurora, is your suggestion to set up an array to counteract the power of the opponent's array?"

"But in this way, it should only affect Gino City, right? What about other surrounding towns and territories?"

"Moreover, as the situation becomes more and more chaotic, more and more people will flee to Gino City to seek refuge."

"By then, the burden on this city will become heavier and heavier; how long can we hold on?"

Aurora nodded, her expression serious: "This is the safest approach for now."

"We do not have enough intelligence and preparation to directly remove all the nodes, and acting rashly might instead cause us to fall into the opponent's trap."

"Conversely, if we stabilize our position first, and the opponent sees that the effect is not as good as imagined, they might be unable to resist sending people to investigate."

"In this way, when the opponent leaves their lair, we can deal with them much more calmly."

"As for other places..."

Aurora paused and said somewhat wistfully: "Under the resurgence of the Red Moon, perhaps this is life..."

Rowan heard this, thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly:

"Then let's do that for now. Aurora, list the materials and equipment needed for setting up the shielding array, and I will support you fully."

Aurora's expression relaxed slightly upon hearing this:

"Then I will go contact my father now; I need to consult him and confirm some of the details..."

Rowan nodded: "Go ahead."

Aurora said no more, turned, and walked toward the door, leaving the castle soon after.

Rowan turned to Garuvi again and said:

"Garuvi, you should rest and recover from your injuries first; when you are healed, we will discuss subsequent actions."

"Mm." Garuvi nodded in agreement.

...