Ding.
The white porcelain plate in her hands slipped once again, dropping into the sink and colliding with the bottom, emitting a crisp sound.
Renee patted her chest subconsciously, turning her head to look outside the window.
For some reason, there were sudden shouts and arguments coming from outside tonight, startling her repeatedly.
She picked up the white porcelain plate, ready to continue washing.
Knock, knock, knock—
At the door of the small courtyard, there suddenly came a knocking sound.
Renee slightly frowned... Who could be visiting at such a late hour?
She put down the plate, shook her hands, and stepped forward to open the door.
"Excuse me, is this Lord Colin's residence?"
Upon opening the door, she was met with the smiling face of a gloomy man.
For some reason, seeing his enthusiastic, ingratiating smile made Renee uncomfortably uneasy.
Beside the man stood a skinny figure, covered with a gray hood, head drooping, face obscured.
"Yes, this is Wizard Colin's home," Renee replied.
Mulan's face lit up with pleasure, and he subconsciously stepped forward to enter.
"I'm sorry, sir, the master is currently in seclusion and cannot receive guests at the moment," Renee shifted her feet slightly, blocking the doorway.
Colin had told her earlier that day to not accept visits from anyone except for Lillian and a few familiar people; she had taken his words to heart.
In fact, it was always like this whenever Colin was in seclusion, asking her to kindly refuse visitors.
Mulan hesitated slightly, then insisted,
"I have important matters to discuss with Lord Colin."
"I'm sorry, sir, the master has ordered..." Renee shook her head and responded softly.
Colin had especially emphasized the importance of this matter to her.
During his seclusion, even if Lillian and others visited, they could only stay in the reception room and were not allowed to approach the Meditation Room or the basement at all.
As for others, no matter who they were, unless they were Official Wizards, they were to be gently turned away.
And the male wizard before her was clearly not an Official Wizard.
Renee recognized the School Badge on Mulan's chest... it had no golden feathers, just three silver feathers, indicating he was merely an Advanced Wizard Apprentice.
"If Lord Colin is currently unavailable, could we possibly wait in the reception room?" Mulan suppressed the rage in his heart, forcing a smile and offering a purse to Renee.
Renee subconsciously stepped back half a step, not sure if it was an illusion, but she saw a flash of red in Mulan's eyes.
"I'm sorry, sir, without the master's permission, I cannot let you in," Renee steadied herself and continued to refuse, preparing to hand back the offered purse to the gloomy man.
Just then, the skinny figure behind Mulan suddenly moved.
Whoosh!
It seemed that some witchcraft was used, and Leva dashed past Mulan towards Colin's courtyard with the speed of lightning!
Renee couldn't dodge in time and was pushed aside.
"Leva... you!"
Mulan was shocked; he hadn't expected Leva to break free from the puppetry's control... when had that happened?
In the courtyard.
Leva's footsteps slowly halted, she turned around, staring at Mulan.
Although only a few meters away from her previous position, the sense of safety was markedly different.
In fact, when Mulan had caught up with her earlier, she had prepared a backup plan and hadn't been completely controlled by the puppetry.
She was just waiting for the right moment to escape... Regrettably, on her way here, she had not seen a single member of the Law Enforcement Team.
Now, as Mulan spoke with Renee, she decisively seized the opportunity and fled from Mulan.
Though many thoughts raced through her mind, it all happened in an instant.
Standing in the courtyard, Leva looked at the twisted, angry face of Mulan, about to speak.
Whoosh!
But in the next second, several vine tendrils as thick as arms, shimmering with golden patterns, suddenly attacked her.
The speed was incredible, the power immense!
Moreover, Leva had just escaped a perilous situation, and was at her most relaxed and unaware, she couldn't react in time and was once again pulled out of the yard.
Then, in the instant, she was flung out of the yard.
Clang!
The courtyard gate also closed at the same time.
"Whew—"
Renee exhaled softly, lowering her raised wrist.
"Thank you, Nado," she said softly.
As the assimilated plants increased, Nado gradually acquired simple intelligence,
and with Colin's authorization, she also had partial control over Nado.
Elsewhere.
In the basement.
Colin slightly furrowed his brow, waking from his meditation.
'Nado... seems to be some disturbance.'
He quickly stood up, fortified himself with newly Limit Broken Defensive Witchcraft, and hurried towards the outside of the basement.
But just in that instant.
"So it is—"
A booming voice seemed to carry from the sky to every corner of the Huapei district, viewing all obstacles as nothing, clearly reaching every ear.
"Foolish Divine, to expend so much effort just for this?"
The voice, filled with disappointment and disdain, came from nowhere.
Colin halted his steps, his body stiffening slightly.
Although he couldn't see the source of the voice, he felt as if he were being watched by a large predator, the chilling sensation making his throat go dry.
The next moment.
The air seemed to turn into liquid, a clearly visible semi-transparent ripple appeared from nowhere, abruptly in front of him, then swiftly swept across his body before continuing to spread outward.
"Ahhhh!"
Following that, screams erupted one after the other.
One of them was very close, seemingly right at the doorway of the small courtyard.
Colin gently inhaled, suppressed the tremble in his heart, and quickly walked over to the courtyard.
Looking around, no enemies had entered, but the screams became clearer still, just outside the door.
"Renee, what happened?" he asked quietly.
Renee briefly explained what had just occurred, and after listening, Colin frowned.
The screams outside continued but he had no intention of opening the door.
Soon, the screams gradually subsided.
Meanwhile, Colin keenly noticed that occasionally, the figures of wizards would fly across the sky.
Knock knock knock—
A rhythmic knocking suddenly sounded.
Colin pondered for a moment, then, with a thought, he had Nado open the door.
A pale-faced female apprentice appeared, her expression one of unsettled fright.
"Master, she was one of the wizards who came to visit just now." Renee reminded.
"Leva?" Colin slightly furrowed his brow.
"Colin… sir."
Leva looked at Colin with a complex expression, at a loss for words for a moment.
Just then, after that noise resounded, Mulan, who had been attacking her, suddenly froze in place, then, screaming, fell to the ground as blood started to seep from all over her body.
She appeared to be unconscious now…
And the unsettled Leva knocked on Colin's door instinctively.
Swish!
At that moment, a graceful figure suddenly descended from the sky.
"Ms. Margaret."
As the figure became clear, Colin was startled and, without paying attention to Leva at the door, instinctively walked towards the descending Margaret.
"I didn't expect you would be living here… help me cleanse Li Ersen Street, Colin of the Tin Saint School," Margaret said with some surprise before speaking calmly.
Then, as if afraid Colin wouldn't understand, she took the rare initiative to explain:
"Do you remember the two Divine Believer incidents on Huapei Street before? This time is similar, only it's us taking the initiative!"
"We a batch of wizards are about to leave, and we aim to thoroughly cleanse the remnants of the Divine in Neustadt City to ensure its safety before we depart."
"The Nine Major Schools have jointly carried out a secret operation, and now, we are at the final stage."
"Since you live here, I assume you are familiar with Li Ersen Street; I need your assistance."
Colin was inwardly shocked, silently absorbing this sudden influx of information.
"Come on, stop dawdling," urged Margaret.
Then, as if she noticed something, she lightly exclaimed, paused her preparation to take off, and suddenly walked towards the door.
Confused, Colin quickly followed.
Seeing Margaret approaching, Leva at the door instinctively made way and moved aside, bowing her head respectfully and greeting, "Ma'am."
But it seemed that in Margaret's eyes, she was merely air, Margaret did not even glance at her but just briskly walked past.
As for Colin… he had no extra energy to pay attention to Leva.
Margaret's words were not long, but the information they conveyed was not slight at all.
Colin had not expected that after two attacks by Divine Believers, the nine schools of the city had already prepared for a counterattack in secret…
He hadn't heard a whisper of it…
In fact, Colin even thought that probably not even his Mentor and Lillian were aware of this.
Tin Saint School… was, after all, merely an accessory to Yista School.
While digesting the information Margaret had just revealed, he closely followed Margaret's steps, brushing past Leva.
A moment later, Margaret stopped,
She looked down at the figure on the ground and murmured:
"Poor creatures contaminated by the Divine…"
'Divine contamination?'
Just as Colin wondered internally and prepared to inquire,
Boom!!
A blazing golden beam suddenly shot towards the blood-stained figure on the ground!
Like igniting paper, under the force of an invisible power, the figure instantly burst into flames.
A human torch appeared before Colin, illuminating his astonished face.
By the glow of the golden beam, unless he was seeing things, that figure was clearly Mulan, whom he had just seen this morning!
"Let's go," Margaret withdrew her arm and turned to him.
"Yes." After a brief silence, Colin responded.
Then he swiftly turned to Renee beside him and instructed,
"Go back, take Demi and hide well, Nado will protect you."
Swish!!
Having done all this, he no longer delayed, applied the Flying and Diving Skill, and soared into the sky with Margaret.
As he departed, once Renee stepped into the yard,
The plants in the yard began to sway and rustle.
The branches of the ancient trees stretched out a circle spontaneously, thick vines like writhing snakes covered the walls…
And then, with a clang, the gate shut tightly.
Shutting out the outside world, and leaving Leva, who was still at the gate, excluded as well.
Leva stood outside, her face blank as she stared at the firmly closed gate.
Instinctively, she looked up, observing the figures of Colin and the powerful witch disappearing into the sky…
Her emotions were mixed.
There was the humiliation of being ignored by Colin, the shock of Colin becoming an Official Wizard,
and even some bewilderment…
Thus, she stood there frozen.
It was unknown how long passed before she suddenly realized, and quickly walked towards a safer place.