When Dodge heard the wind chimes ringing in unison, he immediately understood that the Dreammaker was quite interested in the message he had brought.

This made him unconsciously puff out his chest.

Soon, a man with tousled brown hair poked his head out from the window of the wooden house.

He looked half-asleep, yawning as he spoke. “Are you sure it’s a Nightmare Butterfly?”

Dodge was about to confirm, but hesitated. “The dream bell you gave me did indeed ring. And I can feel an invisible mental force affecting my consciousness.”

He didn’t dare speak too decisively. “Of course, it still needs you to confirm it personally. After all, in this world, no one understands Nightmare Butterflies better than you.”

“You’re sure you saw a Nightmare Butterfly?” Dreammaker Clark asked again.

Wizard Dodge opened his mouth, suddenly feeling a bit of regret. He’d rushed over here without confirming things thoroughly.

Now that Clark had asked twice whether he had truly seen a Nightmare Butterfly, he couldn’t give a definite answer—and had no idea whether that would make the man angry.

The pressure of a Third-Rank wizard really was leagues above that of a Second-Rank.

But Dodge also knew he couldn’t delay any longer—he had to answer the question.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and risk his life for the discovery, Clark suddenly appeared in front of him, standing less than a meter away.

Not just Clark—his entire house had suddenly drawn close to Dodge. Dodge looked down and only then realized it wasn’t the house that had moved closer, but his own legs that had been stretched out by over ten meters!

He jumped in fright, yet his body didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.

The drowsy-looking Clark reached a hand out of the window and grabbed a fistful of Dodge’s hair from the top of his skull.

“Forget it, I’ll just take a look myself.”

As soon as the words fell, and before Dodge could react in terror, Clark’s mouth suddenly opened into a square shape—one meter wide and one meter long. He reached out and stuffed the fleeing Wizard Dodge straight into his gut.

After swallowing a true wizard, Clark’s mouth returned to its original size. He began chewing with slow deliberation.

As he chewed, his eyeballs rolled around, as if deep in thought.

In his vacant gaze, twisted images slowly took form.

After a minute, the chewing stopped, but a gleam of light emerged in his eyes.

“Ha… it really is a Nightmare Butterfly.” Clark pulled back into the window, satisfied. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen a new one. Seems like it’s worth sleeping in properly this time.”

The wind blew again, and the milky-white chimes danced softly.

Silence returned.

In the blink of an eye, the withered trees sprouted tender green branches. Within a few heartbeats, they were crowned with thick foliage.

The entire dead forest transformed into a lush, dense woodland.

Beneath a finely crafted treehouse, a corpse rapidly decomposed, becoming fresh nourishment for the greenery above.

A little while later, a thumb-sized, multicolored butterfly flew out of the treehouse and vanished into the vast blue sky.

…

Three days earlier.

Saul, accompanied by the Old Witch and Marsh, drifted across the icy lake on a raft woven by Little Algae, gradually approaching the island at its center.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Saul was still a little surprised when he saw the island clearly.

No other reason—this “island” was just too small.

Looking all around, it didn’t even seem to be five hundred square meters in size.

To call it an island was generous—it was more like a small mound rising out of the lake.

The mound was higher in the north and lower in the south.

On the flatter southern part, there was a large pit. It seemed that there had once been a structure there, but now it had been demolished.

Aside from the south, the land to the north was also uneven. Structures had likely stood there as well, but now only bare yellow earth remained—not even a trace of vegetation.

“Looks like that Wizard Dodge cleaned up real thoroughly. He didn’t want to leave you a single useful thing,” the Old Witch said with a gloating expression.

But before she could savor her glee for a few more seconds, she saw Saul begin laying down one material after another on the land in front of them.

Finally, he pulled out a half-man-tall iron box from his storage device.

“That storage item of yours… really holds a lot.”

“A space storage artifact from Bayton Academy. It hasn’t been mass-produced yet—only a few people can purchase it.”

“Bayton? Don’t tell me it’s that Bayton I’m thinking of?”

Saul, using Mage Hand to lift the iron box while calculating the right orientation, casually replied, “The same Bayton that left the Borderland a century ago.”

“Aha, I thought so.” The Old Witch laughed maliciously. “Back then, their Third-Rank wizard Belves was beaten half to death by Dreammaker Clark. He had to give up the Forest of Rebirth and flee the Borderland.”

She glanced at Saul’s arm, where the magic had just flared up. “Seems they’re doing pretty well out there.”

News from the Borderland tended to be scarce.

Back in the day, Bayton Academy had buried a large force of Kema Empire’s wizard troops alive and nearly founded their own empire in the western region of the Stat Continent.

If not for a Third-Rank wizard from another continent interfering—and Bayton’s own Third-Rank dying prematurely—they might’ve succeeded in establishing a new Bayton Empire in the west.

Even so, Bayton Academy was not to be underestimated.

Especially that inverted tree beneath the academy.

It had definitely reached the power level of a Third-Rank wizard.

No one knew what scheme they were brewing.

But Saul, as a mere First-Rank true wizard, had no intention of getting involved.

The Old Witch, however, didn’t seem to think much of Bayton Academy.

“Hmph, nothing impressive. All they can do is tinker with petty tricks. Belves really had no pride as a senior wizard. Got defeated and then ran off to some barren place to play at being a merchant.”

What a tone she had.

Saul just shook his head and chuckled silently. Maybe she was being hunted by both the Firefly Lord and Wind Sprite precisely because of that mouth of hers.

In any case, until their cooperation ended, Saul wasn’t going to let her leave Lake Rhine. No need to accidentally invite another powerful enemy.

The Old Witch scowled at Saul’s smiling face, but before she could say anything, Saul suddenly strode off quickly with the iron box in his arms.

He walked about ten meters and stopped midway up the northern slope.

Then, the black tentacles that had just carried them across the lake emerged once more and began digging into the ground on the spot.

At the tips of many of those tentacles, shark-like mouths cracked open.

The Old Witch squinted at the scene.

“Are those tentacles… eating while they dig?”

Her legs moved rapidly as she ran to Saul’s side. “This magic pet of yours is interesting. Want to sell it?”

Saul smiled. “You couldn’t afford it.”

Soon, a large pit appeared before them—one meter wide and three meters deep. The bottom was quite damp, with water droplets already beginning to collect.

Saul frowned. “There’s water… is that okay?”

Agu: Of course! You mustn’t underestimate a Wizard Tower!

Saul immediately recalled the powerful and deranged Master Gorsa and shook his head. “You’re right. That was my ignorance.”

Agu: Um… I didn’t mean it like that, Master!

Saul had no intention of blaming Agu. He simply retrieved the iron box from his Mage Hand and channeled his mental power into the runes etched onto the box’s surface.

This runic array had been drawn by Master Gorsa himself, who had personally transferred its control over to Saul.

Feeling the box begin to tremble slightly, Saul released it and let it drop to the bottom of the pit.

Then, without looking at what happened next, he immediately retreated.

The Old Witch had wanted to peek inside the pit, but was suddenly thrown into the air by a powerful shockwave.

As she flew, she tried to cast a Flight spell to stabilize herself—but found the mana above the island completely disrupted. The spell disintegrated in less than a second, and she plummeted straight down.

“Ahhh—catch me!”

Thud!

The child-sized Old Witch landed in a pair of strong arms.

She had thought it was Saul catching her—but when she looked up, she saw a face with a few clusters of thin, long mushrooms growing on it.

Marsh had caught her, but quickly set her down—as if she were covered in bugs!

(End of Chapter)

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