The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again Chapter 197 197: Sea of Fallen Stars

"Ha! It's mine!" Anser laughed loudly.

The dragonfly ship wasn't a top-tier spelljamming vessel, but it was small and agile—perfect for a small team.

More importantly, there were very few people capable of constructing magical ships. Money alone wasn't enough to buy one.

At that mont, several figures in mage robes appeared on top of the castle. Using the cover of night, they quietly approached his dragonfly ship.

'Spellcasters?'

Anser decisively lowered his altitude and hovered above the ship. Just as he was about to cast a spell, he saw that the spellcasters had already stopped in place, bowing toward him with composed and open postures.

"We are not with Star Demon," the middle-aged man at the front quickly said, his tone urgent but expression relatively calm. "We are mages enslaved by him, responsible only for operating the ship. We have not participated in his cris."

Anser glanced at the chaotic battlefield in the distance and decided to spare them for now. Taking over the pirate base ca first.

"Wait here."

After leaving those words behind, he raised his hand and cast Arcane Lock on the dragonfly ship's hatch. Then he rose into the air and flew toward the city gate, blocking the fleeing star pirates.

A thought crossed his mind—he decided to test the effect of Mind Partitioning.

"ફાયરવોલ"

A sharp Draconic chant flashed by. A wall of fire roughly thirty ters long and ten ters high stretched across the gate, spewing tongues of fla three to four ters long toward the castle side. The blazing fire illuminated half the sky.

Several running pirates were caught off guard and burned into living torches, screaming as they rolled on the ground.

A smile appeared on Anser's face. Using Mind Partitioning for the first ti didn't make him uncomfortable—it felt no different from multitasking normally. He just needed to split off part of his focus. It wasn't difficult.

[Target eliminated. Gained 25 experience points.]

The damage of a fourth-circle Wall of Fire reached 5d8 (5–40), and it dealt continuous damage. Charging through it was suicidal.

Several pirates were burned to death in succession. The others didn't dare approach, yet had nowhere to flee.

High walls surrounded them. There was only one gate—blocked in front, pursuers behind.

Anser didn't hesitate. He cast again. A brief Draconic incantation echoed through the night as a bright flash shot from his fingertip, appearing above the crowd in an instant.

Boom—

The fireball exploded, forming a massive yellow-red sphere that lingered for several seconds, lighting up the inside and outside of the castle with terrifying brilliance.

More than a dozen pirates were engulfed. There were no screams or struggles—they were instantly reduced to charred corpses, scattered across the ground.

[Target eliminated. Gained 55 experience points. Level up!]

The remaining dozens of pirates stood frozen in shock. After a brief mont, they quickly threw their weapons to the ground.

"I surrender—"

"Don't kill …"

"…"

Anser did not lower his guard. His gaze swept through the crowd, carefully assessing their strength.

That warlock was a fiend, and his three high-level subordinates were all of evil alignnt. This group of pirates likely wasn't any better—he had to be cautious.

"All of you, drop your weapons and gather in the center of the plaza. Hands on your heads, crouch down—" he shouted.

At the sa ti, he ordered the air elentals to halt their attacks and bring out all the pirates hiding in the rooms—injured ones included.

The pirates did not resist. They obediently complied. Dozens gathered together, exchanging uneasy glances, filled with fear.

Taking advantage of the mont, Anser used his Paradise Mark to notify Salian and the others. Once they were ready, he summoned them.

Salian, Colin, Bratt, Finn, Nornoth, along with several professionals from the Quesser.

This was the advantage of having a portable space—you could call for reinforcents at any ti.

Salian quickly grasped the situation. While collecting weapons, he also supervised the pirates.

The air elentals worked efficiently. Before long, they searched the entire castle, leaving no corner unchecked. Hidden pirates were dragged out one after another.

All captives were gathered in the plaza—nearly a hundred in total, from various races. Including the dead and heavily wounded, the total population of the pirate base was around one hundred fifty.

A significant portion were non-combatants. These people either hid or fled, offering almost no resistance.

Anser had Salian interrogate the pirates to quickly understand the situation, while he returned to the dragonfly ship.

The mages were visibly excited and hurried over.

The middle-aged man bowed slightly and spoke first: "My lord, my na is Lin Qiancheng. I co from the Shou Lung Empire, a senior wizard of the School of Abjuration. This is Mage Moen, and the other three are my students…"

Anser raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down.

Lin Qiancheng had slightly yellow-toned skin, black hair, black eyes, and soft facial features. He indeed differed from typical Faerûnian people.

The Shou Lung Empire was located on the distant Kara-Tur continent—vast, ancient, and highly civilized. However, due to cultural and language differences, people of Faerûn knew little about this old empire and often mistakenly referred to its people as "Tuigan."

Moen, on the other hand, was a typical half-elf—tall and lean, with bronze skin, possibly with high elf lineage.

The dice turned slightly, displaying their information:

[Lin Qiancheng, Human, Level 11 Wizard (School of Abjuration)]

[Moen, Half-elf, Level 7 Wizard (School of Evocation)]

The other three were also professional spellcasters.

According to Lin Qiancheng, they had been captured by the Star Demon pirate group and forced to operate magical ships. All their belongings had been confiscated, and their spellcasting abilities were restricted. With no ans of escape, they were forced into exploitation.

This situation had lasted for several weeks. There had originally been more mages, but they had been killed one after another—now only five remained.

"Star Demon is a peak warlock and possesses a powerful artifact. We should leave imdiately—if they return, none of us will escape," Moen quickly added after Lin Qiancheng finished.

"A tarot card?" Anser asked.

"Uh… yes." Moen widened his eyes, as if realizing sothing. He exchanged a glance with Lin Qiancheng, both shocked and delighted.

"Where is this place?" Anser continued.

Lin Qiancheng's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly answered: "The Sea of Fallen Stars. We are on a small island within it. When we sailed away from the mainland, I observed our position—we should not be far from Aglarond."

Anser froze for a mont, then felt a surge of joy.

This was Faerûn!

Aglarond was located on the eastern peninsula of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The straight-line distance to the Sword Coast was about three thousand kiloters. It sounded far, but with a magical ship, it would only take a few days.

The Teleportation Cube still had two coordinates: Waterdeep and the Rock of Bral. Waterdeep was closer to Durlag's Tower, but between them lay the River Chionthar and Baldur's Gate—traveling by horse would be extrely dangerous.

He asked a few more questions, but Lin Qiancheng and the others had only been here a short ti and knew very little.

"Introduce this magical ship to ."

Standing beneath the massive dragonfly ship, Anser ran his hand along its slender tallic leg, full of amazent.

Lin Qiancheng imdiately brightened up, smiling broadly.

"My lord, this is a dragonfly-class magical ship. Its na is Star Demon…"

The ship resembled a gigantic dragonfly, about thirty-six ters long from head to tail. The head served as the cockpit, the thorax contained crew quarters and cargo holds, and the hollow tail could store freshwater and goods.

Its six long legs were extrely flexible, allowing it to perch on the ground, trees, or various complex terrains. They could also be used to transport cargo.

There were hatches on the left side and underside of the thorax, both secured with steel locks—the ones Lin Qiancheng and the others had tried to pry open earlier.

Anser didn't have the key, but he didn't need it. Two casts of Knock easily unlocked the steel locks. He discarded them and replaced them entirely with Arcane Lock.

Arcane Lock allowed customizable access permissions—it was far more convenient than ordinary locks.

The side hatch opened, though there was no ladder. Fortunately, the ship rested low enough that they could easily climb aboard.

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