Greycastle, Neverwinter City.

Misanxing, a scholar, was calculating the design drafts sent by the Ministry of Industry, just as he usually did.

This was a job that seemed to never end, yet it was surprisingly fulfilling—unlike observing the stars, every result they measured would determine the direction of the design and ultimately transform into visible results. Although he would often revisit the starry sky with the new telescope when he had free time, his focus had increasingly shifted to the Arithmetic Institute in the past two years.

The more he calculated, the more deeply he felt the meaning of His Majesty's words, "Describe all things with numbers." Astrologers didn't know much about manufacturing, but if the curves or lines depicted by those numbers looked very harmonious, the related design results would most likely be finalized. There seemed to be a strange connection between the two, and sometimes he couldn't tell whether the creations determined the numbers or the numbers determined the creations.

If he mastered it to a certain degree, would he not even need physical objects, and could he determine the characteristics of an unknown object just by a string of numbers and formulas?

It was this wonderful association that gave him new expectations every day.

"The calculation result for item twenty-six is three four seven five, exceeding the limit," the assistant carefully reported after pressing a series of buttons on the mechanical calculator.

This thing was a rare item. Princess Anna made it by hand, and there were no more than ten in the entire Neverwinter City, mostly assigned to the Administrative Office and the Arithmetic Institute.

Misanxing nodded and raised his pen to record it in his notebook when the lights overhead suddenly flickered. The lightbulb crackled, as if something had gone wrong.

Everyone couldn't help but stop their work and wait for the lights to return to normal.

"Bang!"

A crisp sound came from the next room, as if something had fallen to the ground.

The scholar frowned. He knew that important instruments of the ancient witches were kept in that room, and he had repeatedly told the apprentices to be extra careful when cleaning. How could they still be so careless?

However, what he didn't expect was that the culprit quickly rushed out of the room, running towards him in a panic. "S-s-sir! The skeleton floated up!"

"What?" Misanxing raised an eyebrow and quickly walked to the doorway, then his eyes widened in surprise.

He saw that the originally closed skeleton had completely scattered, as if it was changing its shape, and dazzling light bloomed from its center, as if awakening from a slumber!

How was this possible!?

Only a very few people in the Arithmetic Institute knew about the existence of the carrier—besides those ancient witches who lived in the form of sarcomas, no one could use these magical objects. They had dug out a secret passage under the Arithmetic Institute to house the central carrier, which was why such things were stored in the Arithmetic Institute.

The light didn't last long. After only ten or so breaths, the skeleton returned to its closed state and slowly fell to the ground.

"Sir, I only wiped the dust off with a damp cloth, and I definitely didn't do anything else to it!" the apprentice who made the mistake explained in a panic.

"This is none of your business, go out," Misanxing said, feigning calmness.

After the door closed, he took out a special key from his pocket.

That was the only way to get to the underground.

There was more than one ancient witch in the form of a sarcoma, but the one underground was different—it was said that she had no consciousness, only the ability to answer questions, so she had to be locked up with chains to prevent accidents. The scholar was no stranger to her. She had made great contributions in verifying the calculation results in the past, but he had not forgotten Pasha's warning that once the other party escaped, she could easily tear apart anyone who approached her with the power of the carrier.

He had to make sure that the accident just now was not caused by the other party.

However, what shocked Misanxing was that the central carrier had not left its proper position, but had completely collapsed, its tentacles twisting and coiling together, with no trace of activity.

It's over... How could this happen...

Misanxing knew that the problem was far beyond his ability to solve.

He suddenly turned around and ran towards the ground, shouting loudly, "Someone, go to the castle and notify Scholar Shujuan!"

……

The cluster of light that burst out quickly dissipated, and the grey dot lit up for less than a few seconds before extinguishing, like a brief flash of fire.

Failed… perhaps?

Serene stared at the net without saying a word. For a moment, she had clearly connected to the core of magic power, but why didn't the light continue?

Originally, she planned to use the balance mode to connect the two ends, and then let Eleanor analyze these four core instruments, but now the hope seemed to have vanished.

Even if she wanted to try again, she could hardly concentrate anymore—the erosion of the mask had gradually affected her sanity.

"Without the support of the divine stone veins, the net cannot last… It ultimately needs magic power to run, otherwise why do you think I let those magic power cores wander outside?" Nassopelle shrugged. "Although I can't understand it, the will is commendable. I accept your soul and knowledge."

"I won't allow that."

Suddenly, a voice that did not belong to either of them suddenly appeared in this space of consciousness.

Serene was stunned. The voice sounded familiar, mixed with an indescribable sense of familiarity in the strangeness.

She turned her head and saw a woman standing quietly behind Nassopelle. Her long hair almost reached her ankles, her eyebrows and eyes were as delicate as paintings, and her half-open grey eyes carried a hint of lingering laziness, which also made her stand out from the other two Third Seats.

"Eleanor… Your Excellency!"

Serene blurted out.

She could hardly believe her eyes! After more than four hundred years, she once again saw the leader of the Association.

"You are Serene, right? I remember your voice. And this guy is undoubtedly a high-level devil…" Eleanor glanced around. "What is this place? A new soul container?"

"I will tell you everything later, but there is no time to explain now!" Serene said urgently. "Please help me restart those magic power cores and drive this devil out! It will be too late if we wait any longer!"

"Haha… Hahahaha…" The Mask laughed loudly. "I thought you did something, but it turns out you sent an extra gift! Is this female strong? It's a pity that I am not a physical entity, and combat ability is useless here. As for analyzing the four cores, it's even more ridiculous. In terms of calculation ability—"

Halfway through speaking, Nassopelle's smile suddenly froze on his face.

He clearly saw that the star vortex above his head was changing. First, a few abrupt light clusters suddenly appeared in it, and then the assimilated area quickly expanded, as if water flowing against a waterfall, forcibly suppressing the rotation of the star vortex and forcing it to rotate in the opposite direction—under the intersection of the two forces, the four cores re-bloomed with dazzling light!

The God-Made God, which regained its lifting force, entered a state of rapid deceleration. The diffused red mist began to contract inward, the surface of the mist lake, which had already tended to boil, became as crystal-like again, and the First Army soldiers on the Ascension Square were all pressed to the ground and unable to move.

"Who are you!?" Nassopelle said in astonishment. "How could you understand the structure of the magic power vortex so quickly just by yourself?"

"One person can't do it alone." Eleanor stretched out her hand towards the top of her head, as if touching the magnificent magic power scene. "But I am not alone…"

With a loud bang, the surrounding light was extinguished, and the net and other nodes disappeared without a trace. In the darkness, only the God-Made God, which was still stubbornly flashing, remained.

Serene realized that the control center where they were located had been disconnected from the "net."