Chapter 326: Bonfire Party?

Once everyone was ready, they quietly approached the base of the town walls.

Nitre Town was a mining town of considerable size, its outskirts guarded by sturdy stone walls and watchtowers.

Under the shroud of night, the long stretch of walls resembled a silent, giant shadow, isolating the activities within from the outside world.

Ansu closed his eyes to sense the situation inside. His reconnaissance magic could amplify sounds within a certain range. After a moment, he frowned.

It seemed... quite lively inside the town.

Elder Matthew was also carefully deciphering the sounds coming from within. Soon, his expression turned strange as well.

“So much noise? Drums, cheers, even people singing... It’s the middle of the night. Are they holding a bonfire party?”

“Everyone stay hidden. Avoid combat as much as possible.” Celia looked around at the group, her gaze finally landing on Ansu. “I’ll head in first and wait for you inside.”

“Alright,” Ansu nodded.

In the next second, a faint ripple of mana flashed and vanished. Celia’s figure disappeared into the night without a trace.

Following her lead, the others began to show off their own skills.

“Elder Hermit, I’ll go ahead.” After speaking to Ansu, David cast 【Levitation】.

He grabbed a protruding stone brick on the high wall, used it as leverage to flip himself up, and vanished into the night as his shadow flickered past the battlements.

Elder Matthew’s method was the most direct. He raised his hand to trace magic runes on the stone wall and cast the 5th Circle spell, 【Phase】.

The hard wall rippled like water, quickly forming a spatial passage just wide enough for one person. Elder Matthew bowed slightly and stepped straight through.

Altina looked at Vera, who was standing there with a dazed expression, then glanced at Ansu before looking away to cast nature magic from the Druid school.

She began chanting under her breath, her hood lifted slightly by an invisible current of air. The next moment, she leaped into the air. Amidst a distorting blur, she transformed into a pitch-black crow.

The crow flapped its wings twice in mid-air, tilted its head to observe the two for a few seconds, and then soared over the wall, disappearing into the depths of the darkness.

Only Ansu and Vera remained.

Vera whispered, “I didn't expect the elf lady to turn into a big bird...”

“Brother... what about me?” She turned to Ansu with an embarrassed look. “If only I had learned a transformation spell like that when I was studying under Master Danielle...”

Ansu smiled and said, “That’s not something you can just learn because you want to. Come here, I’ll take you across.”

He reached out his arms toward Vera.

Vera blinked, then happily jumped up.

She wrapped her arms around Ansu’s neck and hung herself in his embrace.

“Yay!”

Gazing at Vera, who was comfortably enjoying the princess carry, Ansu gave a warm reminder. “Hold on tight. We’re taking off.”

“Mm!” Vera buried her face into the crook of Ansu’s neck and immediately hugged him tightly.

She felt a secret joy in her heart. It had been so long since her brother had held her like this.

As expected, coming to the South was the right choice~

...

Ansu’s method of entry was similar to David’s. After lightly flipping over the wall, the two avoided a squad of patrolling soldiers and landed in the shadows on the inner side of the wall.

Arriving at a narrow alley within the town, Ansu looked down.

Vera was clinging to him like a koala, with no intention of letting go.

“Vera? We’re here.”

“Ah, we’re already here?” Vera slowly opened her eyes, reluctantly letting go. “Brother, you’re so fast...”

After her feet touched the ground, a black shadow fluttered down and landed on her shoulder.

It was the crow Altina had transformed into.

Whether it was because the Druid’s transformation magic had a time limit or she simply didn't want to change back yet, the crow perched on Vera’s shoulder. Its glossy black feathers shimmered in the dim light.

Vera leaned in curiously to observe. The crow’s large, round head turned to face her, blinking once.

“What a cute big crow~”

Looking closer, Vera noticed a single emerald-green stray feather standing up on the crow’s head and couldn't help but laugh.

“Even though the species is different, why does it feel so much like Altina...”

The crow turned its head away, looking slightly disgusted.

The group eventually converged.

A momentary glimmer of magic flashed on a nearby stone wall. Elder Matthew stepped out from the stone, patting the dust off his robes.

David emerged from his 【Shadow Stealth】. He hurriedly reported to Ansu, “Elder Hermit, there is indeed a crowd gathered around bonfires at the central plaza.”

“Huh?” Vera blinked in surprise, her small nose twitching slightly.

“It really is... I can smell the scent of charred roasted meat. There are infected all over the outside, yet the people in town are quite optimistic... They aren't sleeping in the middle of the night and are having a bonfire party to eat roast meat?”

Just then, Celia’s figure silently emerged from the depths of the dark alley.

She was the most efficient and had already scouted the entire area, so her expression was particularly subtle.

“This bonfire party is burning people.”

Vera froze for a moment. Once she realized what was said, she immediately covered her mouth and nose in disgust.

It turned out that the seemingly enticing aroma of charred meat... came from living human beings.

Ansu frowned and immediately said, “Let’s get closer and see what’s going on.”

Perhaps because most people were participating in the ‘bonfire party,’ the streets at night were relatively quiet. The group crossed half the town and finally stopped at a corner.

The scene at the central plaza came into view.

There wasn't just one bonfire; over a dozen blazing fires were scattered across the plaza. Gallows and execution stakes were everywhere. The orange firelight illuminated the faces of the surrounding crowd in flickering, eerie patterns.

A prisoner in rags was roughly pushed onto the execution platform by soldiers and tied firmly to an execution stake. Extreme terror made her lips quiver incessantly, yet she couldn't produce a single clear sound.

An inquisitor unrolled a parchment and briefly read out a list of crimes. The crowd below erupted into a tidal wave of fanatical cheers.

Subsequently, the executioner took a torch and ignited the woodpile at her feet.

Tongues of fire frantically devoured the prisoner’s flesh. Amidst agonized screams, charred black smoke rose into the sky, interweaving with the smoke from the other execution stakes to turn the night sky murky.

The atmosphere among the onlookers grew even more heated. With every death that concluded, the clamor rose higher.

As if completely possessed, they sang and danced around the fires, treating the bloody and cruel execution as a grand carnival ritual.

“These people are... mages?” Elder Matthew’s face was grim. The dancing firelight reflected in his eyes. He could clearly sense faint mana fluctuations lingering on the victims.

“Another witch trial? Damn it! These wretched Church dogs...!”

“It’s not the Church.” Ansu shook his head slightly. There were no clergy from the Church of Holy Light present. The people presiding over the trials and executions were wearing the uniforms of the town guard.

The reason seemed self-evident.

Celia narrowed her eyes slightly. “It seems Nitre Town has organized its own witch hunt.”

The mana plague ravaging the South had caused people to develop an extreme fear of magic. The 《Magic Prohibition Decree》 recently promulgated by the Pope had provided a legal outlet for this panic.

While everyone was staring at the bloody carnival in the plaza, Celia’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the darkness on the other side of the town.

At the same moment, Ansu sensed several abrupt surges of mana.

Suddenly, five figures clad in grey-black robes with their faces completely covered by masks appeared at the edge of the plaza.

In the next instant, several low-circle spells tore through the air, accurately piercing the bodies of several executioners and shattering the original festive atmosphere of the plaza.

The crowd instantly fell into chaos.

The intention of the masked mages was clear—to forcibly rescue their fellow mages who were about to be executed.

...