He had realized by now that this abnormality was evidently caused by the white light that had been emerging on the iron plate since earlier.
But since the iron plate was indestructible due to being enveloped in white light, perhaps they could go down to the next level through a broken hole not covered by the white light.
They might even find a smaller hole and thereby shake off the pursuit of the dark creature!
Lillian nodded her head, as clever as she was, she instantly understood Colin's idea.
Swoosh!
Colin waved his hand gently, invoking the Swift Skill on himself and Lillian.
With the enhancement of the Swift Skill, their speed increased noticeably.
Lillian glanced at Colin with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
And the dark creature, limited by its size, had significantly slowed down in its attempt to break through the exceptionally durable cabin walls, clearly falling behind Colin and Lillian.
Colin took a slight lead, paving the way forward. With the aid of his Superbrain, he clearly recalled the nearest hole he had come across on his way and planned the fastest route!
The sound of the wind howled.
His Soaring and Flying Technique, now elevated to the realms of First Rank Witchcraft due to the fusion with Golden Paper Limit Breaking, matched him perfectly, and at this moment, his flying speed was no less than Lillian's.
Even Colin felt that, with the boost from the present Swift Skill, in terms of speed, it wasn't much different from the graceful Flying Witchcraft he had seen Margaret perform.
"Turn the corner ahead and you'll see the hole, on the left side of the corridor, near the wall," Colin whispered urgently.
"Alright!" Lillian responded, her mind filled with surprise.
Remembering the hole was not difficult, but to recall it so clearly without having made a concerted effort to memorize it while merely passing by was no simple feat.
The next moment, they turned the corner like weary birds returning to their nests.
One after the other, they accurately slipped through the hole in the floor and arrived on the second level.
Boom!!!
Moments later, the dark creature violently crashed into the hole, but due to its colossal size, it was unable to get through.
It could only let out soundless roars at the edge of the hole.
Colin let out a slight sigh of relief.
He was just about to continue flying with Lillian to the next level.
But just then!
The white light that shrouded the grey-blue iron walls around them suddenly began to flicker and then vanished in an instant.
"Not good!"
"Move quickly!"
Colin's heart skipped a beat, and he continued to flee forward with Lillian!
However, after making a few turns, he felt something was amiss.
There was no sound of the iron walls breaking, nor any sound of the creature's rush...
"Junior Wizard Colin, it seems the creature has stopped chasing us," Lillian spoke up, gradually slowing down her flight.
Colin also came to a halt.
Looking back, there was only the empty corridor.
Listening carefully, it seemed the creature had broken through the ceiling and moved up to a higher level.
Boom!!
At that moment, a loud explosion was suddenly heard.
Swoosh!
The next second, out of the corner of his eye, Colin thought he saw something flash by.
Instinctively, he looked towards the window.
In the far-off field of vision, a man in a white Wizard Robe with a hooked nose looked disheveled as he came to a stop. From his direction, he seemed to have just been flung out of the airship.
"Lord Grantland?!" Lillian approached the window and murmured involuntarily.
Colin felt a jolt of shock and continued to look into the distance.
With his strong vision, he could clearly see fresh blood spilling from the corners of Grantland's mouth, his expression a mix of shock and anger.
The next moment, a dark red woman with a smile slowly walked out from where Grantland had been flung, although she was walking in the air without any footing, it was as if she walked on solid ground.
Behind her, the figure of a wizard dressed in standard Wizard Robe emerged.
"Who is that?"
Colin asked involuntarily.
"A wizard of the Goodale School?" Lillian identified the wizard's affiliation by the style of his robe.
Then she placed her hand against the window and murmured unbelievably, "Did you just say that the wizards of the Nine Major Schools and its subsidiary schools of Second Rank or above… knew about the attack in advance?"
Colin's heart sank abruptly.
He had assumed that the Council was confident and had determined the traitor to be among the wizards outside of the Nine Major Schools and their subsidiaries, which is why they had informed the subsidiary schools' Second Rank or higher wizards about the attack in advance.
But the Goodale School, clearly one of the subsidiaries of the Nine Major Schools' Silver Peace School… Why would one appear beside the Divine Believer now?!
"It seems, the lowest level isn't necessarily safe now either," Colin spoke slowly, his face clouded with gloom.
The two continued to watch the distant situation.
Lillian summoned a trumpet-shaped flower, placing it against a nearby fractured cabin wall.
After a slight adjustment, the conversation's voices suddenly came through.
"The Goodale School has fallen as well..."
This was unmistakably Grantland's voice.
"The Supreme Council above all, the Nine Major Schools immutable... where is the sense in that?"
The Goodale wizard spoke softly.
He had a scholarly look with loose hair, dressed in a white robe, and the authority he carried was only slightly weaker than Grantland's.
Grantland remained silent as he turned to look into the distance.
Colin followed his gaze.
In the bright moonlight, Colin could clearly see the shapes of two other airships.
Just like here.
The other two airships were also surrounded by numerous enemies.
Only they were not dark bats, but two other kinds of monsters.
"Bishop Grant, surrender, submit to my lord," the female bishop said softly.
"If you desire power, the Divine can grant you power. If you want authority, a wizard like you only needs to submit to my lord, and your status shall not be below mine... Moreover, by submitting to the goddess, the generous Divine will share with you Her eternal authority."
"Hah!" Grant shook his head and sneered, "Eternal life?!"
Colin watched Grant's lips quiver as if he wanted to continue speaking, but he suddenly paused and stood in silence.
...It appeared he had accepted the inevitability of defeat, using no witchcraft and making no attempt to flee.
To the bishop and her followers, this clearly indicated Grant's wavering.
Thus, she continued to persuade him to surrender.
But for some reason,
Colin, watching Grant, couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.
His Superbrain whirred rapidly.
This reaction was like...
Like he had suddenly received a spiritual message!
Just then!
A grand and familiar voice suddenly rang out.
"The Goodwell School... the Goodwell School... so it was you!"
At the appearance of this voice, the entire battlefield fell silent.
"Nois City Lord?!"
Colin's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the owner of the voice.
As he looked into the distance,
The faces of both the female bishop and the wizard from the Goodwell School had turned exceedingly nasty.
"You still had reinforcements hidden!" the female bishop said incredulously.
"Surrender," retorted Grant with a slight smile as he spoke.
But as Colin observed carefully, he noticed a trace of lingering fear in his eyes.
Buzz—
A familiar semi-transparent ripple suddenly spread rapidly from the center airship outwards.
Wherever it passed, the dark monsters began to wail and fall silent, tumbling down towards the clouds.
At that moment, a hint of red light suddenly lit up the eastern sky.
The pale red light pierced through the circular porthole glass and shone onto Colin's face.
As he saw the monsters falling like rain unto death, his heart was silently relieved.
While he breathed a sigh of relief, the unsettling sense of foreboding regarding the wizard faction deepened.
It seemed that this fishing expedition by the wizards had been successful and even managed to root out the traitorous Goodwell School embedded within their own ranks.
'But... even Schools can turn to the Divine?' Colin lowered his gaze.
...
The sun was well up in the sky.
The whistling wind spun past his ears, causing his hair to dance wildly.
Colin was holding a specialized Witch Tool, carefully repairing a hole in the airship's outer wall.
"Move a bit more to the left, yes, right there, stop, stop, stop!"
The wizard on his right was waving a mechanical arm, directing his less than brilliant mechanical puppet to place a spare metal plate over the shattered area of the hull.
Whoosh!
Following that, a silver glow emanated from another wizard at his side, holding a similar silver cube Witch Tool.
Under the glow, the metal plate, originally hard, suddenly became as malleable as putty.
With the wizard's guidance, it stretched and deformed, seamlessly covering the irregularly shaped hole.
Colin shifted his gaze back, channeling Magic Power to continue fixing the breach on his side.
The battle had ended shortly after the appearance of Nois at dawn that day.
The Divine faction suffered heavy losses, with almost all of their adherents and followers decimated. If not for a bishop who had summoned a Divine Projection in the nick of time, creating an opportunity for the remaining few,
The originally fleeing bishop and another red-robed bishop would likely have met their doom there.
Of course, this may also be because Nois had focused more on the traitors.
Traitors are always more detestable than enemies, as always.
As for the wizard faction...
Their losses were also severe.
Walking through the airship, one could clearly sense the notable decrease in the number of wizards.
Perhaps this was why even he was called upon to repair the airship.
So he busied himself until evening, repairing from the outer armor of the airship all the way to the inner chambers and corridors, finally finishing his work.
But as soon as Colin opened his door, before he even had a chance to sit down, he heard Grant's familiar voice come through the airship's Demon Crystal broadcast.
"In one hour, all wizards are to gather in the central hall on the third floor."
Click.
Colin closed the door, sat down on the cushion in the middle of his room, and frowned slightly.
'What could Grant be gathering all the wizards for...'
One hour later... Colin pondered for a moment, extending his spiritual power towards the Storage Ring on his finger, preparing to spend this time organizing the Magic Stones he had taken from Herard and the other.