The [Landscape] was successfully activated, but all of this was classified as forbidden content. The apprentices and wizards remained completely unaware of it.
All they knew was that the strange and eerie wizardry array that had shrouded the Emerald Isle Great Forest was finally and completely shattered.
The Lord of the Furnace had teleported the entire Furnace to this location and, using its immense and terrifying power, obliterated the wizardry imprint at its very foundation!
With the array destroyed, the army of the Furnace was invigorated, their fighting spirit surging like a tide.
Many warriors, eyes bloodshot with excitement, couldn't wait to charge into the Emerald Isle Great Forest, eager to earn battle merits through desperate combat.
However, not everyone was swept up in the fervor some, beyond their excitement, also felt a deep sense of dread.
"If even the outer formations were this terrifying, what kind of hell awaits us deeper inside?"
Such thoughts began to take root in many minds.
And they were not alone in their hesitation.
Previously, they had been too far from the Furnace to retreat and had no choice but to grit their teeth and remain on the frontlines.
But now, with the Furnace right within reach, those who harbored fear did not hesitate to withdraw into its interior.
Their return brought a renewed liveliness to the Furnace, which had long been desolate.
And as these survivors came back, the true horrors of the Emerald Isle Great Forest were revealed more vividly to everyone.
Before, the logistics personnel inside the Furnace could only rely on indirect reports to understand the battlefield. But firsthand accounts from those who had barely survived left a far more visceral impact.
The Emerald Isle Great Forest was nothing short of a merciless meat grinder.
Whether apprentice or full-fledged wizard, nine out of ten who entered would not return.
Even those who were fortunate enough to survive rarely emerged unscathed most came back to the Furnace with grievous, often fatal injuries.
Thanks to the Furnace's "thoughtful aftercare," those who lost limbs had their bodies "repaired" stitched, and patched back together, piece by piece.
Yet, this only served to highlight the brutal reality of the battlefield.
Seeing these wizards, stitched up like ragdolls, standing before you was a sight both shocking and deeply unsettling.
The horrors of war needed no words. The sheer sight of it was suffocating enough.
Lynn had originally planned to visit the potion garden to learn more about the grim reality of the war from these survivors.
But just as he stepped into the garden, he unexpectedly caught sight of a familiar figure.
"Is that... Sonya?"
Lynn froze in place, his gaze heavy with doubt.
Instinctively, he hesitated to approach, even suspecting that his eyes were deceiving him.
The name Sonya brought to mind a woman with delicate features and an undeniable charm.
She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, not a devastating beauty, but she was at least attractive in her own right. Yet the person before him was entirely different from the Sonya he remembered.
That familiar face was now marred with grotesque scars.
Even her skin tone was uneven as if different patches of flesh had been crudely stitched together, giving off an eerie sense of discordance.
Before Lynn could even speak, the figure had already noticed him.
Her eyes flickered with recognition, and then she waved, a delighted smile spreading across her face as she spoke softly:
"Lynn, you're still alive. That's wonderful."
Lynn hesitated, his gaze falling on the hand she had waved.
Only then did he realize it wasn't a smooth, delicate hand, but an artificial limb made from some unknown material.
As for her words, in the Furnace, this was already a normal way to greet someone.
The most common greeting these days has become:
"You're still alive? That's great. But… your face looks different. I need a moment to get used to it."
The brutality of war had long made survival a luxury.
As long as one could still acquire a "usable" body, no matter how broken they had become, they were considered lucky.
Lynn watched as the figure moved closer and finally confirmed that she was indeed the Sonya he remembered.
Though her appearance had changed beyond recognition, her familiar demeanor and presence remained.
"It's been a long time, Sonya. Welcome back to the potion garden."
Lynn parted his lips, but in the end, this was all he could bring himself to say.
However, Sonya's response caught him completely off guard.
She shook her head, her tone light yet resolute:
"I'm just here to trade some points. I'll be heading back to the battlefield soon."
Lynn was momentarily stunned, his gaze sweeping over her scarred and stitched-up body, his emotions complicated.
For a moment, he suspected that her brain had suffered a severe injury on the battlefield, and something had gone wrong during the repairs.
Her entire body had been pieced back together like this an undeniable testament to the sheer danger of war. And yet, she still wanted to voluntarily return to the frontlines?
Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Sonya chuckled softly. A glint of obsession, almost bordering on madness, flashed within them as she said:
"War is our opportunity. Don't let it slip away. If you still wish to become a full-fledged wizard, to witness the wonders and miracles of that realm, you must seize every chance."
She raised her artificial limb and waved it slightly, her voice carrying a hint of indifference and acceptance:
"Flesh and blood? They're nothing but mere mortal shackles. Once you become a true wizard, repairing and altering your body will be trivial matters."
Her words were not without reason.
For most wizards, the body was far less important than the mind and soul.
Aside from a few female witches who cherished their beauty, bloodline wizards who focused on physical enhancements, or those with specific needs for body modification, the vast majority of full-fledged wizards paid little attention to their physical appearance.
Some even took an extreme path, completely discarding their flesh and existing purely as spiritual entities, forging an entirely different route of wizardry.
Within Lynn's Furnace faction, this was an all-too-common occurrence.
This was the domain of dark wizards, where most wizards specialized in the most sinister branches of magic.
As a result, their appearances if they could even be called were not for the faint of heart.
It wasn't that they were merely ugly.
Rather, the word that best described them was horrifying.
Some were grotesque fusions of different beings, others monstrous amalgamations of flesh, stitched together in abominable ways. Their mere presence sent chills down the spine.
Yet, in the world of wizards, beauty, and ugliness were never judged by mundane ethics or aesthetics.
There was only one true standard power.
Lynn saw the sheer persistence and madness in Sonya's eyes and ultimately said nothing more. He merely sighed and spoke in a low voice:
"It's a shame… there's still no news of Colin. I hope he's safe."
Before his words had even settled, he quickly changed the topic and asked:
"Sonya, can you tell me about the recent developments in the war? After the Nightshadow Fortress breakout, I delivered the news of our defeat to the other battlefronts and was immediately taken back to the Furnace. I haven't been able to learn what's been happening outside since."
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