Chapter 49: Imaginary Number Magecraft

The sun slowly sank behind the mountains, and stars and moon rose high into the sky.

South of Sol City, in front of Pandenburgh,

Morbone Wood.

Large roots of ash trees grew through skeletons, and their burls resembled agonizing human faces. And within this eerie ash wood, a steady and confident chant suddenly echoed.

"Deconstruction—"

"Material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, final cause."

"With On the Heavens as the foundation, Prior Analytics as the construction, and Sophistical Refutations as the interference."

"Command the transformation of earth, water, fire, and wind, subject to the balance of truth phases."

"Manifest the bounded field of syllogism, follow the elevation of causality."

Three figures stood in the center of Morbone Wood. Two knights in half-plate armor stood behind a mage wearing a deep blue scholar's robe inlaid with celestial patterns, holding a bone staff, and with long gray hair braided in an ancient Greek style. They watched as the mage continuously drew intricate magical symbols on the ground and poured various magical ingredients from a waist pouch.

"Magecraft: Imaginary Number Labyrinth."

As the final chant concluded, the ground array emitted a shimmering white light.

The leading mage, in his early thirties, nodded with satisfaction and exhaled lightly.

"Now, we just need to establish three more nodes to complete the greater bounded field."

He turned to the two knights guarding him, who were cooperating with him, and asked the final and most crucial question:

"So, gentlemen, I need to confirm if the information provided by Regiment Commander Hector is accurate?"

"Does the cavalry unit we are about to hunt truly contain at least one Master-level professional, and nearly a hundred basic materials?"

"Setting up the bounded field will cost 253 gold pounds in materials. If it's just an ordinary hundred-man cavalry unit, then this trip will have been for naught."

The two knights exchanged glances at his words and chuckled.

"Fisherman Pergos, you shouldn't think that way. Hector has no reason to deceive us, and anyone who can escape from under his hand will only be strong, not weak."

"You should consider, what if it's a semi-hero, or even a true hero?"

Pergos, whom the two knights referred to as 'Fisherman,' scoffed and looked at the two knights with a look of disdain, as if they were country bumpkins, and said indifferently:

"As long as the bounded field is fully established, with what I've learned at the Lycaean Magecraft Academy, even a true hero will only become a stepping stone for me to reach the truth here."

The knight shook his head and chuckled: "You're certainly bold to say that—"

"However, we need to speed up the establishment of the bounded field. According to Hector, that unit will reach this location the day after tomorrow. After all, it's a hundred-man cavalry unit. Without the bounded field, it would be difficult for us to stop them, let alone hunt the professionals hidden within."

Pergos nodded and, after a moment of thought, estimated:

"At the latest, by tomorrow afternoon, all four bounded fields will be complete, thoroughly sealing off the four directions of Morbone Wood."

"This time, the reward will be split with you three..."

However, before Pergos could outline the division of spoils,

One of the knights suddenly frowned and raised a hand.

"Wait—"

Pergos frowned, thinking the knight wanted to haggle, and said impatiently: "You want forty percent? Don't forget, I paid for all the bounded field materials—"

"Shh!"

"Footsteps!"

The knight raised his index finger to Pergos's lips, frowned, glanced at him, his ears twitching as he continued to listen to the unusual sounds he had just heard in the bone wood. Then he slowly turned his head to his right, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Very fast, very urgent!"

The other knight's eyes moved, and he immediately raised his hand to grip the long spear on his back, looking cautiously in the direction of the team's right side.

Swish!

A black shadow leapt out from behind an ash tree thicket, rapidly jumping to the other side.

Infected by the two knights' reactions, Pergos's expression involuntarily stiffened. He focused his gaze, only to find that the suddenly appearing black shadow was actually a black hyena the size of a calf.

"Black Dog?"

He couldn't help but let out a disdainful snort, "Elliot, you're being too uptight."

"Perfect, this dog is also worth 20 gold pounds, so..."

However, Pergos's words did not make the two knights relax their vigilance; they continued to look to their right.

Soon, under the stern gaze of the two knights,

The ash tree trunks trembled slightly,

A rumbling sound of horse hooves suddenly erupted from outside the dense forest!

"It seems there's no time for you to prepare your trump card that can take down a hero, Pergos. Activate the bounded field—"

"Prepare for a night raid!"

After confirming the enemy's number and strength through his reconnaissance specialty, Elliot's mouth curved slightly, his gaze gradually becoming cold.

"As you wish, there is only one Master-level enemy, one ordinary mage, and ninety-nine who aren't even high-level professionals."

"And we are the 'Headhunters,' comprised of three Masters!"

The other slightly plump knight, hearing this intelligence, his cautious expression immediately softened, and he let out a strange laugh,

"Hehehehe~!"

"Never has there been such a wonderful beginning!"

Meanwhile,

outside Morbone Wood,

a cavalry unit, more like cooks than knights, burdened with numerous pots, pans, and daily supplies, arrived here with swift steps.

Leading this cavalry unit were Su Ya, Merlin, Lucan, and Dagonet.

"Was that a Black Dog just now?"

"It actually ran faster than a warhorse!"

At this moment, Su Ya stared at the spot where the black shadow disappeared, feeling a little eager to try.

Ever since he had a hearty meal of Black Dog meat, rich in magic and extremely high in calories, this morning, he felt as if he had taken an illicit drug, brimming with energy and itching for a fight.

He turned to look at Lucan, who had a smiling expression beside him.

"Lucan, what do we do next? Do I just go in and fight it one-on-one?"

The Black Dog's speed exceeded that of ordinary warhorses, its strength was comparable to lions and tigers, and its biting force was like crocodiles. Although it was a monstrous beast, it was still within human comprehension.

And Su Ya, who couldn't help but glance at his own panel at this moment, also needed a battle of sufficient level to adapt to his body's changes.

[True Name: Su Ya]

[Attributes: Strength: E, Agility: F, Endurance: F-, Magic: F, Noble Phantasm: C.]

[Main Class: To be assigned.]

Although he hadn't formally stepped into the threshold of a profession, become a high-level professional with a class, nor had 'Qi' manifested, or possessed the blessings of a class and the specialties exclusive to Masters.

Yet, his current base stats had already fully surpassed the requirements for a high-level swordsman, and his Strength had even inexplicably broken through human limits, reaching Master-level standards.

Combined with the power of his Noble Phantasm, four classes, and magic crests,

Su Ya himself couldn't comprehend how strong he currently was!

At this moment,

Lucan nodded,

"That's right, just go straight in. A Black Dog will actively attack those weaker than itself, and your current level won't make it feel threatened. This is much more convenient than us trying to catch it. However, the cavalrymen must stay behind."

"This battle can only be handled by us few professionals. The cavalrymen must maintain their current formation to provide us with continuous counter-magic to resist the detection eyes."

Su Ya nodded, dismounted, and was about to step into the forest.

And just then,

Merlin, who had been taciturn since approaching Morbone Wood, suddenly turned her head to look at a winding, strange mark on a nearby ash tree, her brow slightly furrowed, and said:

"Wait, don't you feel like something's off?"

Souya, Lucan, and Dagonet exchanged glances. Not being mages and lacking magic sight, they didn't know what Merlin had seen.

"What's off?"

Merlin dismounted and scooped up a handful of sand from the ground.

But the sand, which should have crumbled into fine dust, inexplicably turned into a puddle of yellowish-brown mud, gurgling and slipping from her palm, splattering onto the ground with soft plops.

Upon seeing this, Merlin exclaimed in surprise:

"This is... Imaginary Number Magecraft?"

And when she realized what this phenomenon implied, Merlin's face instantly changed. She turned to everyone and cried out:

"Oh no, we've been targeted!"