Chapter 1 Cleminton's Change

A few years ago, outside of the imperial capital Lington and a few super-large cities, there was hardly any industry to be seen in Luying.

Like other traditional cities in Luying, Cleminton, although an important city in the south with a large population, had been a primitive agricultural society for hundreds of years, with almost no progress in civilization.

But after the establishment of the United Empire, things were completely different.

At the Cleminton steam train station, Suren and Mr. Mirror got off the train. The scene here was already one of prosperity and bustle.

Inside the super-large steel-framed station, workers with various mechanical arms were busy building various infrastructures.

The sparsely populated southern Luying was a key area for immigration, and a large number of Mafa Mechanical Alchemists poured in here. Mechanics gave the labor force more efficient work efficiency, and urban construction was changing with each passing day. A huge super-city had already been built, and as far as the eye could see, high-rise buildings stood tall.

As soon as the two walked out of the station, an old butler in a black suit had been waiting for a long time.

This was the butler of Sabina's mansion and also a member of the Mirror Organization.

The old butler bowed respectfully and said, "Madam, sir, this way, please."

To Suren's slight surprise, the old butler invited them into a classical carriage.

The carriage was pulled by four black horses with glossy coats, and the wheels had gold-painted patterns of mountain eagles and lions, which was the noble crest of the Russell Earl family.

Even though this transaction was obviously a trap, the old earl, who had the item, had put on a full show, sending a carriage to welcome the two guests from the imperial capital.

Getting into the carriage was surprisingly comfortable.

Suren remembered that this was only the second time he had ridden in this kind of antique transportation favored by noble lords.

The last time was at the wedding with Yekaterina.

...

The carriage left the city all the way and drove onto a rugged wilderness path after a while.

The carriage had advanced shock absorption and didn't bump much.

Suren leaned against the side of the carriage, leisurely watching the scenery outside the window along the way.

The Mirror Master, sitting opposite him, could read quietly no matter where she was, and she sat there flipping through an ancient book.

The carriage wasn't fast. After about an hour, the surroundings were dense primeval forests, with mountains stretching as far as the eye could see in the distance.

Before long, the view suddenly opened up, and a magnificent white stone castle appeared in sight.

This was a classical castle built on a mountain, with a moat and drawbridge, surrounded by a circle of stone walls, everywhere was in the classical architectural style, and almost no modern steam machinery could be seen.

Those old nobles liked this kind of old thing to show off their family's long history.

Suren looked at the castle through the window and murmured, "A very beautiful castle..."

A flash of light flickered in the Mirror Master's beautiful eyes, and she also said indifferently: "Yes. It is indeed a good residence."

Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't exist after today.

The carriage drove across the drawbridge all the way and stopped at the castle gate.

This transaction was contacted by Sabina, whose disguised identity was Countess Demacula, equivalent to the Earl Russell title of this castle. The other party also gave her the full noble etiquette, arranging a bunch of people to wait at the door long ago.

Leading the group was the butler of Russell Earl's mansion, a middle-aged man with mutton chops.

He watched Suren and the others get out of the car and greeted, "Sir, madam, please come in, the master has been waiting for you two distinguished guests for a long time."

Suren got out of the car unhurriedly and chivalrously extended his hand to help the Mirror Master down.

The two followed the butler into the manor.

The manor was more beautiful than it looked outside, with Gothic white towers, beautiful corridors, and large areas of beautiful roses and lavender, the air was filled with a faint floral fragrance. The artistic conception of the castle and the mountains and forests were perfectly integrated, and it was obvious that a master had designed it.

The two walked into the manor and saw a pot-bellied middle-aged fat man.

This guy was Earl Russell.

The fat earl greeted them with a watertight series of polite greetings, and then led Suren and Mr. Mirror to tour the Russell family's collection in the manor.

Suren knew that this guy was deliberately delaying time, after all, those magicians also needed a lot of time to set up the formation.

He pretended not to notice and strolled around slowly with the Mirror Master.

...

While Suren and the others were heading to the Stomgar Territory, in the imperial capital Lington, at the Frederick Palace.

In the study, Yekaterina, wearing a crown, was looking at a crystal ball.

The picture in the crystal ball was a forest, and far, far away, there was a white stone castle the size of a sesame seed.

She had been watching for a long time, and she didn't know what she was thinking. Those beautiful purple pupils were as deep as the starry sky.

There was no one else in the room.

But at this time, a strange voice sounded, "Your Majesty, are we really not sending reinforcements? According to the information obtained by the Military Intelligence Department, the three ninth-order Dharma Saints who have descended to the Celestial God Plane have disappeared. They should have all sneaked over. If we concentrate the top-tier forces in our hands, we may still have a chance of winning, but if... if something happens to Mr. Mirror of the Dawn Organization this time, our situation will be even worse."

"..."

Yekaterina listened quietly.

Her gaze was still on the crystal ball, and she didn't respond for a long time.

The voice came from the dark corner of the curtains. This was the highest commander of the Military Intelligence Department besides her, March Cotton, codenamed "Black Joker."

No one knew that the Military Intelligence Department had such a person, and no one had ever seen him.

But this was indeed a powerful eighth-order peak professional.

This was one of the most important aids that her teacher, Master Pierre, had left her when he handed over the Military Intelligence Department.

No one knew that the forces hidden in the dark of the Military Intelligence Department had been enough to subvert the Bonaparte Dynasty.

In fact, after the scandal of Marquis Hines defecting to the enemy was exposed a few days ago, Yekaterina guessed everything.

There weren't many people in the empire who could make Marquis Hines commit suicide to protect.

But even if she guessed it, she couldn't move rashly in the current situation.

First, those guys did things meticulously, and without concrete evidence pointing to them, no one could do anything to their interest group.

Second, the current situation of the empire was that the original structure couldn't be broken before there were other pillars to support it, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable.

This time, after Yekaterina knew about Mr. Mirror's plan, she saw a major turning point.

As long as the Dawn Organization could win, then her plan might also be implemented.

The last hidden danger within the empire would also be completely resolved.

But... as "Black Joker" said, it was almost like betting on the fate of the country.

If Dawn failed, those top magicians of the enemy might even directly threaten Lington.

With an internal traitor secretly cooperating, those guys might even have a plan to assassinate her, the emperor.

At that time, the Alchemy Plane wouldn't even have the last chance to hold on.

In the study, there was no sound for a long time.

Yekaterina looked out the window. The rain in Lington was always drizzling, like the gloomy mood of everyone in the imperial capital today.

After pondering for a moment, she said indifferently: "Prepare yourself. When the result there comes out, Lington will also have to carry out the last major purge."

As soon as these words came out, the person hidden in the shadows of the curtains worriedly said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly, do you think Dawn will definitely win?"

Yekaterina thought that she should give everyone some confidence, and said indifferently: "Yes, we will win. Go prepare."

Hearing this, March Cotton, the "Black Joker," didn't say anything more.

Only he knew that the empress in front of him was not only unparalleled in power, but also far surpassed everyone's expectations in strength.

He responded: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Sensing that the person had left, Yekaterina also turned her gaze to the crystal ball, her eyebrows slightly moving.

She didn't know where Dawn's chances of winning were.

But there was one thing she didn't say in her heart, that was, that person never did anything he wasn't sure of.

...

Russell Earl's forest manor.

In the classically decorated and luxurious reception room, the chubby Earl Russell was still delaying time, rambling: "Two distinguished guests, since Countess Demacula sent you two to discuss, it's obvious that she came with sincerity. But it's not that I don't want to sell this. It's really a family heirloom. It's really difficult for me to sell it. What I mean is... if you need to borrow this item to seal something, I might consider it..."

Opposite him, Suren and the Mirror Master were leisurely drinking tea, watching this guy perform hard.

This guy had delayed them for half an hour, and the two weren't in a hurry.

At this time, the black crow on his shoulder suddenly croaked, and Suren raised his eyes and glanced out the window.

His eyes sparkled, and seeing the surging magic fluctuations, he put down the teacup in his hand.

The Mirror Master also noticed something and asked calmly: "See anything?"

As soon as these words came out, the expression of the Earl Russell on the opposite side suddenly became a little embarrassed.

He thought he hadn't been exposed and asked stupidly: "Madam, are you asking me?"

However, the Mirror Master completely ignored this guy's meaning.

Suren on the side also ignored it.

The two talked to each other, and he responded: "Ninth-order forbidden spell, the formation has already taken shape. It looks like there are at least nine eighth-order magicians ambushing nearby. Looking at the scale of the magic fluctuations, the formation covers an area of about fifteen kilometers..."

"Oh."

The Mirror Master's expression didn't change at all when she heard this, and she took a sip of tea.

But this extremely abrupt conversation made the face of the Earl Russell on the opposite side change drastically, and he stuttered: "This..."

Hearing the words "magician" and "ambush," he knew that he had been exposed.

He really couldn't figure it out. There were no abnormalities in the previous second, so why did they suddenly discover it?

And since they discovered it, why were these two guys so calm?

This guy wanted to explain something, but suddenly a line of blood appeared on his neck.

The seventh-order guard commander next to him reacted slightly, but when he looked at the Mirror Master, infinite mirror light instantly appeared in his eyes, and then his vitality dissipated rapidly and strangely.

He died silently.

Suren conveniently harvested the souls of the two, and the ins and outs of this conspiracy immediately became clear.

Although this guy had deliberately used magic to shield some memories to prevent exposure, Suren still got what he wanted.

It was similar to what he had thought before.

Suren murmured: "So the mastermind behind the surrender faction is really Master Merlin... Hehe, what a good trick, he doesn't get involved from beginning to end, and lets these old nobles act as go-betweens, and he gets the best of both worlds. Tsk tsk, what a good scheme."

As he said this, he gripped the black umbrella in his hand, and the soul perception had already sensed the powerful soul fluctuations rapidly approaching outside the manor.

Suren turned his head and glanced at her, and said, "There should be three ninth-order Dharma Saints. It's a bit tricky, Senior Sister."

The Mirror Master's expression changed a little at this time, but she still couldn't see any fear, "Yes, leave it to me."

Suren smiled knowingly, raised his eyebrows and said, "Okay, then I'll go break the formation first."

"Yes."

The Mirror Master nodded.

At the moment she put down the teacup, an incomparably terrifying aura burst out from her body, and with a mage seal, "Domain: Myriad Mirror Wheel!"

How terrifying was it for a ninth-order professional's domain to be fully released?

The furniture in the reception room couldn't withstand it and turned into dust in an instant under the pressure of that terrifying force. Suren's soul perception range. The solid city walls were like sandcastles, turning into powder in an instant, and the beautiful garden turned into ruins. The snow-capped mountains behind the manor also collapsed like a dam. The birds and beasts in the forest were startled, and before they had time to escape far, large swaths of them died on the spot...

A battle between ninth-orders had the power to destroy the world!

The three Dharma Saints on the opposite side also changed their faces, they were very surprised that Mr. Mirror was not injured?

They were even more surprised that this person had simultaneously received their three-person combination kill?

Mr. Mirror was resisting the three ninth-order spells, looking at the enemy in front of him, three mirror avatars rushed towards a Dharma Saint each.

The battle instantly entered a fever pitch.

...

On the other hand, Suren had already teleported to the forest a few miles away.

He watched the Mirror Master fighting one against three, and he exclaimed: "Senior Sister's ability is really strong."

Clone everything.

It may not be possible to copy it one-on-one, but now that there is this colony outfit, it is a perfect match.

Not to mention three, Suren felt that when his senior sister became stronger, she could even copy ten or eight of herself, wouldn't that be ten or eight ninth orders?

But Suren also saw it.

Although this ability is strong, it is easy to have a 50-50 chance of copying other people's things, but it is difficult to win.

One against three, she also divided her strength into three, at least there is no possibility of victory or defeat in a short time.

Suren squinted his eyes slightly, and didn't dare to delay at all.

He didn't forget his task.

There were at least nine eighth-order Archmages near the manor who were condensing the ninth-order forbidden spell-level magic circle—.

As long as this magic circle is solved, Mr. Mirror's combat power will be completely released.

At the same time, Suren raised his hand, and with a flash of spatial fluctuations, several more people wearing golden-patterned cloaks appeared around him.

Pestoa, Pandora, No. 19, the Old Swordsman Bartolo, the "Blood Duke" Wordsworth, Mr. Black...

Since the enemy had reinforcements, their Dawn also had a lot.

Although there are not many eighth-order or above combat forces in the Dawn Group, it is completely enough to deal with the current situation.

The Eternal Night has a large spatial teleportation array. For Suren, no matter where the warship is, it will only take a little more energy to go there.

The magic circle originally condensed by the nine eighth-order Archmages was impeccable, even Mr. Mirror could not escape.

But Suren had it, which also destined him to be able to walk sideways on the Alchemy Plane.

The enemy cannot set up a magic circle that exceeds the upper limit of the plane's laws, and any spatial restriction is meaningless to him.

As soon as the people from the Dawn Group appeared, everyone nodded at each other, and instantly disappeared in place, rushing towards a corner of the magic circle.

From the first time Suren saw the magic fluctuation, this magic circle had no secrets to him.

He had already allocated the combat plan, as long as he could break open three corners in an instant, this magic circle could be broken immediately.

At that time, it would be the time for a real war.

...

How terrifying is the power of a ninth-order war?

At the same time that the battle broke out in Russell Earl's forest manor, Cleminton, dozens of kilometers away, also felt like a strong earthquake had struck, and the ground shook.

For a time, the entire city was alarmed.

The weather was very good today, and those professionals with good eyesight could even clearly see the terrifying movement like a volcanic eruption.

The mountains collapsed, and towering giant trees fell down in large swaths. Everyone immediately realized that top experts were fighting there.

On the other hand, this sudden situation was also transmitted to the imperial capital Lington through various channels.

The top leaders of the United Empire received the news and were all very surprised.

They were very curious, who was fighting?

There are currently only two ninth-order professionals known in the Alchemy Plane, one is the court's first enshrined Master Merlin, and the other is Mr. Mirror of the Dawn Organization.

Those well-informed big shots knew that Mr. Mirror was injured, and when they thought of the black market bounty before, they immediately realized that Mr. Mirror might have encountered a conspiracy ambush.

The big shots immediately realized that something was wrong.

Being attacked in the heart of Luying meant that the most important traitor in the empire had taken action!

Everyone knew that if Mr. Mirror was really ambushed and killed, then the traitor would definitely unite with the enemies of the Celestial God Plane to bring irreparable disastrous consequences to the empire, and the Alchemy Plane might decline from then on.

Almost immediately, countless senior military officials rushed to the palace, wanting the emperor to send troops to reinforce them.

But everyone didn't have much hope.

After all, the enemy had premeditated an ambush, and specially chose it in the southern Stormgar Territory, which was far away from the imperial capital.

If reinforcements were sent over, it was feared that everything would be too late.

However, before the pessimistic mood could spread, a series of combat reports fed back, causing the despair in the hearts of the Lington executives to dissipate little by little, and instead gradually turned into surprise.

An ambush assassination that was originally supposed to end in a short time was actually fought to a standstill?

The news came and shocked everyone.

Three ninth-order Dharma Saints and at least nine eighth-order Archmages came from the Celestial God Plane.

This was a terrifying force that was enough to destroy any city except Lington.

However, what shocked everyone even more was.

The Dawn Organization actually relied on its strength to withstand the magic group head-on!

Moreover, not only was the fighting evenly matched, but as real-time battle situation messages were sent back, everyone discovered that the Dawn Organization still had a chance of winning?

Although they didn't know why the Dawn Organization would create a miracle, but as soon as the news came back, for a time, the entire United Empire's military morale was greatly boosted.

However, this change made those surrender faction members in the imperial capital who had secretly defected to the enemy completely panic.