'' Stay in line everyone "
Guiding the students so that they are all in place, I moved towards the front of the auditorium where the rest of the instructors have gathered.
3 years, 12 classes and a total of 621 students out of the original 623 students all waiting to move towards our destination.
After a week of constant encouraging, most of the students where actually on board to going to the arcane territory, in fact today was the day we were supposed to be heading to the arcane territory, but not only was there no transportation methods arranged, everyone was ordered to be at the auditorium.
' What more could Lord Merlin be planning '
" This is quite the group we have here "
A voice reached me from behind revealing a pair of shimmering pink eyes
" Don't you think so too? "
With pink hair to accommodate her pink eyes, a stunning beauty stood beside me wearing a bubbly smile like always.
" Miss Sophia... "
" Ah... bella
I told you to call me as usual, no miss that or lady this "
She said while pouting
" No but Sophie we are currently working "
I said trying to dissuade her, but she only clung tighter to me as if to prove her point as she put her hand on her chest.
" Oh, come on who cares about that, honestly you are still 100 years too young to question my judgement "
" Sophie you are only a year older than me "
" Exactly an entire year so you better respect your elders "
Her words sometimes made no sense, yet she said them with such confidence that I could never bring myself to refute
' Honestly even after all these years '
" You never change, do you? "
" There is no need to fix what isn't broken now is there? "
Laughing lightly at her reply, I felt myself relaxing as the tension slowly left my body. It's always been like this with her, she always said whatever pops up in her mind no matter what.
" You are absolutely right "
As I was about to bring up another topic to Sophie the entire auditorium suddenly went silent as the students who were busy talking about the trip all stared wide eyed at the front.
There having seemingly appeared out of nowhere was Lord Merlin, sitting calmly at a table with a cup of tea in his hand.
Putting the cup he down he raised his hand and moved it lightly in a gesture resembling that of shooing away a cat
" Go away now "
And with that we were all transported to the arcane territory
.....
Nicholos Pov
Seeing the massive beam of golden light, I slightly covered my eyes.
' I never realised it in the novel, but merlin has quite the love for theatrics '
" I believe we were told that they would arrive by carriage " Albert said as he raised a brow
" Looking at them, it seemed they also believed so "
Slowly walking towards my next destination, I commented as I stifled a laugh.
" I am sure they instructors already got the gist of the situation by now, so it should be ok to send some knights to escort them, begin the banquet even if I'm gone "
" I'll do so at once, master "
" Oh, and for the time being it would be best to not to show yourself to the students
You know because of the whole you torturing someone thing "
" I'll be as discreet as possible "
Slowly bowing his head with those words Albert vanished from in front of me.
' Now then let us hope that we all don't die today '
.....
Koschei was a genius that was undeniable, yet not even he was able to truly reach the realm of immortality.
To him to be immortal is to be timeless, indomitable, deathless if you may, but even with such grand ambitions all he could manage was a cheap imitation, something that could be easily snuffed out with just a good bit of information.
That train of thought drove him mad, even more so than he already was, scavenging endless old scriptures he eventually found what he thought was the answer to all his problems.
' Dragon's blood '
Those supposedly mythical beings turned out to actually exist, he believed that by extracting the essence that was the source of life of the immortal dragons then he would be able to recreate immortality himself.
However, the hunt to find the elusive beings turned out to be unfruitful as all it led to was nothing but dead ends, yet he never stopped and after exactly 241 years he was able to find a clue, a record stating the Imperial surname was more than just an empty title.
He trashed the ball 9 years ago and tried to kidnap a member of the imperial family but was stopped by merlin who attended the banquet and escaped having failed to capture anyone of meaning.
After that event all members of the imperial household carried around artifacts specially created by merlin himself, made to instantly teleport them in time of crises and another one inside the palace to summon him in case of an attack.
Taking in mind the vast knowledge that Koschei would have acquired over time, Merlin had created an entirely new teleportation spell one that couldn't be stopped by normal means, having been unsuccessful in deciphering the new spell Merlin had created Koschei attempts were thwarted for the time being.
' That was until he figured it out a few months ago '
The counter for the spell that merlin had created was finally obtained, and all he had to do was to go and carve out the magical circle for the incantation beforehand so that he would be ready to activate it when the students have arrived.
That was how he had done it originally and with it he was able to cause chaos and burn down the entirety of Marigold County while almost succeeding in kidnapping the princess.
The only reason that he failed was because of the demon summoning that dexter had done caused a rift in the fabric of the spell which made it possible for merlin to appear.
This time however Koschei had been unsuccessful in preparing for the trip beforehand as his information about the trip proved to be incorrect with the schedule having been changed without any prior notice. Considering the complexity, materials needed and size of the spell as a whole, it would have taken him the entirety of the week to prepare.
So now he has no choice but to spend the entirety of the day setting it up.
' And that is how we will be able to catch him '
Just as I was thinking that my crystal rang and with it was the confirmation I was waiting for.
" Sir, the magic circle was found at the north outskirts of the city and is moving eastward just as you said "
" Good, call all the others we are to move toward the west of the city "
" Yes, sir!! "
Ending the call, I was finally able to notice it, the fact that my hand was trembling.
" Heh "
Shaking my hands for a bit I made my way towards the west.
.....
Koschei had always hidden his needle at the complete opposite direction of his current location, considering he should be at the east point at the moment then his needle must be hidden at the west side.
" What have you got? any signs for where he may have hidden the needle? "
Turning towards the captain I asked, hoping that we wouldn't have to resort to our plan b however all I got was silence in return.
' So simply finding the needle is a bust '
" It's fine we already suspected this to happen "
' It seems it is impossible for us to decipher an archwizards spell '
Koschei wouldn't have left it defenceless after all, in fact it is probably layered with a multitude of illusion spells to hide it from the naked eye and a protection array
Currently Koschei would be at the east outskirts creating a magic circle at the eastern forest, while his needle housing his soul should be in the western forest hiding among the countless trees.
Having directly engage him was a last resort
' Time for plan B I guess '
" Well then you know what they say, if the mess is too big get rid of it "
Walking to a rather safe distance and setting up the protective barriers just in case I gave the signal.
" Be ready he will arrive immediately as it is over, when he does, we have to stall him till we are able to get our hands on it "
At the same time as when I said this a thunderous sound spread across the entirety of the territory, a massive inferno of flame erupting at opposite sides of the city, spreading outward thankfully, courtesy of the thousands of magic scrolls that we had procured over the last two weeks going off at both forests.
Watching ahead as it ends, all that was left was a land scorched for miles and in the centre of it a weirdly glowing floating cube with a broken array surrounding it, alongside it was a blazing archwizard crashing down just a second after
" Found you "