Diary of a Dead Wizard

Chapter 1012: Fish That Slipped Through the Net

Ophelia indeed failed to give Saul any response within one day.

So starting from noon of the second day, Shaquille received Saul's command to begin the relocation.

He announced this news with a worried frown, having his subordinates take away as many movable instruments and materials as possible.

He had never thought of directly resisting Saul. Just seeing Saul directly announce his decision to everyone from high altitude, Shaquille knew that Saul absolutely wouldn't allow others to refute him.

At the very least, he definitely wouldn't be the first person to stand up in opposition.

The wizards of Sky City had already grown accustomed to City Lord Ophelia's high-pressure control. That meant low-rank wizards unconditionally obeyed high-rank wizards. Because they knew that even being a bit slow in execution could invite a beating, or even endanger their lives.

So when Saul's utterly inconceivable command was issued, it actually didn't encounter much resistance.

Some people would complain privately, but more people seized every moment to complete their tasks in the migration work as well as possible.

As for where these people would migrate, Saul didn't need to worry about it.

When he informed Master Gorsa of this plan, the master had already clearly stated that Iskaper Continent, which had lost many wizards, was willing to take in all the residents of Sky City.

Including the ordinary people among them.

Until the evening of the eleventh day, the last airship departed from Sky City's port, sailing toward Iskaper Continent.

Saul left the White Glass Palace and landed directly on Flower Sea Street.

He spread out his mental power, confirming there were no other people nearby, nor any lingering wraiths. Then his entire being instantly transformed into a mass of twisted, intertwining threads, floating above the flower town.

Now the volume of Saul's main body fate lines was sufficient to cover this entire district. Moreover, as the three major wizard factions—the Sighing Wall, Tribunal, and Stargate Council—expanded or changed, Saul received more and more fate power.

Adding to this the recent sudden changes on Keli's side, Shaya had also contributed considerable fate power to Saul.

Now, to transform Sky City, Saul decided to directly use a batch of accumulated fate power.

Anyway, these reserves would act on himself, so it wouldn't be wasted.

The fate lines covering the flower town rapidly expanded, soon exceeding the entire street and entering the living areas of the two academies and wizard apprentices.

But when entering this area, Saul discovered a fish that had slipped through the net.

The command passed down had been that those who didn't leave would die.

After targeting Sky City for transformation, this place would no longer be suitable for human habitation. Even low-rank wizards would die from mutation due to inability to adapt to the new rules here.

But even with such warnings, there would definitely be people who secretly stayed behind due to luck or greed. So Saul had also arranged for wizards from the two academies to conduct final screening to see if anyone had secretly remained.

Saul hadn't expected that someone would actually evade the two academies' inspection.

However, when Saul found that fish who slipped through the net, he discovered it was actually someone he knew.

It was Nathan, the temporary apprentice he had taken on when he was in Sky City.

The fate lines extended a thread that fell to the ground, forming a new Saul who stood right outside the wardrobe where Nathan was hiding.

This wardrobe was ordinary enough, but it had a layer of complex concealment magical arrays on it, which allowed Nathan to evade the two academies' search.

But for Saul, who was using fate lines to inspect the entire Sky City, this bit of concealment had no effect at all.

He stepped forward and pulled open the wardrobe door, seeing Nathan inside—clearly no longer young but curled up like a child.

Nathan looked up, his eyes lighting up upon seeing Saul. He stood up directly, his head hitting the wardrobe's top board with a "bang."

But Nathan didn't care about this bit of pain at all. "Saul... Master."

Saul looked at Nathan expressionlessly. "Why did you secretly stay behind?"

The Nathan before him was obviously about to advance to the second rank—good talent and very hardworking. However, Saul had encountered too many geniuses and felt no particular surprise. Instead, he was displeased that Nathan had violated his command and forcibly used methods to stay behind.

Nathan could see Saul was unhappy and felt anxious, but didn't regret it.

"Master, you said that only in Sky City were you my master. If I left here, we would have no relationship. So this might be the last time I see you as your student. I, I had to seize this opportunity."

Nathan hurriedly bowed deeply.

"I'm very sorry that as your apprentice, I was the first to violate your command!"

Hearing Nathan's words, the displeasure in Saul's heart somewhat receded.

He had originally taken Nathan on to facilitate his activities in Sky City. After leaving Sky City so disheveledly, he hadn't thought about returning to continue teaching Nathan. This had also been the condition when he originally took Nathan on.

But he hadn't expected that Nathan would choose to risk staying behind just to see him once more.

One should know that if Saul didn't conduct another inspection and instead directly waited for Douglas to come and begin transforming Sky City, Nathan hiding in this concealment array would very likely die directly.

At the same time, if Saul were a cold and unfeeling person, seeing Nathan who violated his command, he might kill him in a moment of displeasure.

So Nathan was gambling with his own life, betting on a chance to see Saul and fight for himself.

This kind of all-out life-or-death gamble actually made Saul feel a trace of appreciation.

He completely pulled open the wardrobe door and looked at the magical array inside. "Who gave you this array?"

Hearing Saul ask a question, Nathan immediately felt the excitement of having won his gamble.

Saul was willing to ask him questions rather than directly killing him upon meeting—that meant there was room for negotiation.

In his joy, Nathan hurriedly answered, "Master, this array was given to us by Lord Floco. At that time, to avoid the Sky City lord's pursuit, he would hide in many places. With this array, concealment was stronger. Later I kept a copy of the array, thinking maybe it could be useful someday."

Hearing Nathan call him master twice, Saul knew the other was still testing his attitude. However, he had already passed the message about transforming Sky City to Douglas through Master Gorsa, and the other could come at any time. He didn't have time to chat with Nathan.

"Leave here immediately."

Nathan's face rapidly dimmed, but facing Saul himself, he couldn't continue resisting the other's command.

Resisting once was courage; resisting twice would be not knowing what's good for you.

He nodded. "I'll leave immediately and won't cause you trouble."

Saul turned around and struck his palm toward a building near the airship port from a distance.

Through the fate lines, he could clearly see that inside that building were some emergency supplies, including a cargo ship.

It was a maritime transport tool used when airships were insufficient or in other emergencies. Now it would come in handy to help Nathan leave.

Nathan also saw that ship and understood Saul's meaning. His heart was extremely disappointed, but his face didn't dare show too much.

But then he heard Saul speak again.

"When you reach Iskaper, you can use the ultra-long-distance teleportation array to go to the Borderland. My wizard tower is there. If you still want to follow me, go there to continue your studies. If you can advance to the second rank by the time I return, I'll continue being your master."

Nathan looked up with immense joy, not daring to hesitate or question at all.

"Yes! Master!"

(End of Chapter)