NOVEL NEXT Chapter 120: Slaves
The skyship or the vessel was made of blackened steel, and its hull wasn't carved with any insignia that would make it recognizable to others.
In short, it was truly meant as a skyship for covert operations like this.
Soon, Hayden saw dozens of captured trainees. He recognized many of them, including Clair, Ulysses, and others.
They were all being herded up the gangplank by cloaked mages.
However, unlike him, who was bound by a red handcuff, their wrists were bound by a black handcuff. He wasn't sure, but it seemed that due to his record of killing two First-Circle Mages, he was given a stronger restraint, which was understandable.
Anyway, none of them even looked in his direction. Their faces were almost blank as they were probably exhausted, or worse, they might've used some drug or spell to make them listless.
Sheena then shoved Hayden forward to bring him to the waiting mage...
"Move, little knight. Your new life awaits."
Prince Helcurt chuckled at this as he moved ahead. At this point, he removed his cloak since they were already hidden within this huge illusion array.
Seeing him, the mages bowed as he passed, showing their respect to the prince.
"Status report…" Helcurt demanded.
A second-circle mage hurried forward. "Thirty-seven secured, Your Highness. The priority targets put up the most fight—we had to sedate three."
Helcurt's lip curled. "Weaklings. The strong ones will learn their place soon enough." His gaze then turned to Hayden, who seemed to be studying the shackles binding him... "Him especially."
***
'I'm becoming a slave, huh…' Hayden thought as he closed his eyes, trying to adjust to the reality that he must face.
Of course, he wasn't completely hopeless just yet. His Ocularis Lens was still active. Furthermore, they weren't using any brainwashing spells or conducting torture on him. It means that they were 'product' that shouldn't be damaged so easily.
Although his actions were limited, his mind was still something under his control. As long as he could use his Ocularis Lens and his mind wasn't being tampered with, there was still hope for him!
'Right… There will be an opportunity. I'm not going to give up.' Hayden thought.
This time, Hayden finally calmed down. After taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and observed his surroundings as he was being guided by the mage.
The skyship's interior didn't have any decorations and was just filled with metal… It felt as if they were using a flying can instead of a ship.
'It looks terrible…' Hayden commented in his mind.
Nonetheless, his Ocularis Lens had mapped it automatically:
[ Lower Deck: Cells lined with Aura-Dampening Formation Arrays. ]
[ Mid Deck: Training rings—already stained with blood. ]
[ Upper Deck: A pulsing core, possible location of Voll Matrix. ]
Hayden smiled seeing such information. After all, his Ocularis Lens had now evolved so much, thanks to all the information it was able to gather. Now, it could even recognize Formation Arrays.
Perhaps, similar arrays were found in the arena or even in the shackles used on him.
As for the Voll Matrix or the core of the ship, it was already something he had learned from the previous ship they boarded from Aetherwind Express.
As they passed a group of shackled trainees, one—a girl with a split lip and blue eyes—locked onto Hayden.
Hayden couldn't remember which Academy she had come from. However, with her expression, it seemed that she wasn't sedated at all.
Perhaps, she didn't even resist as soon as the mages caught her. That was probably why she didn't look injured or exhausted.
"You." She spoke softly… "You're the one who killed two first-circle Mages? They were really pissed off." She whispered.
Of course, this was heard by a few mages nearby but none of them commented and simply glared at Hayden.
It seemed that they'd been talking about it, and this brave girl heard it.
Hayden just glanced at her and identified with the help of his Lens.
[ Identity: Rose Velez from Sacred Gate Academy. Rapier Specialist. Status: Healthy. ]
'Oh… You can give such status now, huh…' Hayden mused.
Hayden just sighed at her as there was no way he would be proud of that achievement right now. He was already lucky that he wasn't being beaten up yet. If he confirmed it and sounded like he was proud of it, perhaps, even if he didn't die here, he would really get hurt or have some broken or missing limbs before they could descend.
After all, it wouldn't be surprising if those dead Mages had friends in the skyship right now.
Thankfully, the Prince seemed to have intimidated those who wanted to get revenge as he ordered them to prepare to leave…
Soon, the ship's engines activated.
Then, the illusion that was covering their small hideout vanished.
However, in just a few moments, their vessel was also coated by another illusion array as they took to the skies and left the forest…
***
In the meantime, within the Lirandel Grounds, the arena was already ruined. There were shattered structures, trampled banners, dead bodies, rubble everywhere, and traces of Elemental Spells used.
The wounded had already been evacuated, the dead counted—but the absence of the kingdom's brightest young warriors in the eastern region created a dark atmosphere…
At this time, Austere Kingdom's Magister Smith, Third-Circle Mage of the Royal Inquisition, was already inspecting the place.
His silver-threaded robes marked his rank, and the Spectral Eye hovering above his shoulder—a floating orb of enchanted crystal—scanned the battlefield.
Magister Smith then pressed his palm to the bloodstained earth. Then, his magic activated like ink in water, reconstructing the battle…
Soon, he recognized the spell residues… and there was one thing very noticeable… A dark spell that was capable of corroding iron—Phyrexian signature.
There were also Aura Disruptions, showing patterns of Voidflare Bombs. Although Voidflare Bombs weren't known in public, their kingdom's spies had already gathered bits of information about this.
Lastly, he also found traces of Teleportation Arrays… It was faint, but it was unmistakably an old array used by Phrexian Spies.
"Too obvious. Is this a staged trail?" Magister Smith muttered.