Chapter 65.

"Well?" asked Agatha, turning slightly as she glanced at each of her students in turn, "Give me an analysis."

They glanced at each other and then looked back at her. It was Britney who broke the silence.

"We're in a lot of trouble," she said, dazed.

Magnus snorted, "Understatement," he said, shaking his head, "the sword hero just killed the King and used some alchemically modified plants to destroy the whole castle."

"I meant an analysis of the Sword Hero's abilities," she said, her tone dry, keeping amusement from it.

Agatha tapped the crystal orb in the middle of the table they were sitting around with her staff. The illusion restarted its projection and the recording started again. It was a pity that they hadn't caught the start or end of the attack but it was useful to see what little they had captured anyway.

"Look carefully," she said, slowing the replay back as they saw a bird's eye view of the Sword Hero unleashing five powerful blasts of yellow mana at the Castle, "observe where the attacks hit and what they went through."

Britney and Magnus both frowned at the scene as she set it to loop. After nearly a minute of studying the illusion Britney gasped. Agatha and Magnus turned to her and she flushed slightly at the attention.

"Well?" asked Agatha.

"He...he destroyed the anchors for the barriers and he destroyed the defences around them like they were nothing." she said, "I can't even imagine how much mana or what type of affinity you would need to do that."

Agatha smiled and turned to Magnus who was continuing to watch the rest of the recording. The plants growing rapidly to surround and infiltrate the whole castle before tearing it down. The illusion looped back to the start after that. The Hero had destroyed all the enchanted equipment and somehow drained the entire area of her mana after the initial strikes. Her observation system meant to keep an eye out on Aultcray had given her an unexpected boon.

It would be useful if Adrian chose to extend his revenge to Melromarc as a whole.

"The plants...they were used for containment." said Magnus, stroking his chin, "I can't figure out how he was controlling them so well but the expansion was deliberate."

Agatha nodded, "Excellent," she said, "but is there anything more you have noted?"

Her apprentices paused. Reconsidered the illusions before looking back at her hesitantly. They had no answers.

Agatha leaned back against her chair and said, "He targeted the arrays accurately. Each of the five blasts hit exactly the right locations with absolute disregard for whatever was in the way."

"Sensory magics," said Brittany, shaking her head, "he's got some really powerful sensory magic on top of an absurd attack."

Agatha carefully studied her students. Noted that they were calm and then stood up.

"Let's go," she said, picking her cloak off the chair and securing it around her, feeling the defensive enchantments on it light up as her mana empowered it. Her students followed her out the door into the chaotic streets.

"Where to?" asked Magnus.

Agatha pointed at the massive collection of plants that had replaced the Castle in the centre of their city. The Castle had been placed on a small hill that elevated it far above the area around it. A wise tactical choice. But the prominent and easily visible location now made the fact that it had been destroyed more obvious.

Agatha and her students took to the rooftops. Their high levels and status enhancements allowing them to easily deal with the uneven rooftops. Even if she had to slow down. Classed up or not she was still more than 40 levels above them.

It was the easiest method to avoid the chaotic crowds down below. The low murmur of a thousand voices had created a cacophony. Thousands of people stood and stared and speculated. It was fairly late at night but it seemed that news had spread over the past couple of minutes and practically the entire city was awake.

Agatha was now more certain than ever that waiting before reaching the Castle-or where the Castle had been- had been a wise move. Her students had calmed down. Fear gave way to an analytical mindset and she had felt her terror as she realized that the Sword Hero had far surpassed Aultcray and the Spear Hero fade.

She was still worried and scared but it was a rational sort of fear. Something that made her want to figure out the best type of magic to deal with a problem rather than cower in fear.

Agatha caught a glimpse of the small houses near the outskirts as they made their way higher and higher towards the peak of the hill. It was where Lucia and Aultcray had once lived.

Sorry, she thought, I never managed to get your brother back.

Lucia would have forgiven her. Her secret student, her first apprentice, had been a kind woman. But Agatha didn't deserve it. Aultcray had died when his sister fled and Agatha had been the one to help Lucia run away.

It wasn't something she regretted.

Aultcray had chained Lucia and that idiotic Hakuoko had loved her dearly but it still left some lingering doubts about how she could have arranged the situation better.

Especially after the massacre.

Agatha shook off her doubts as she and her apprentices slowed down. The remnants of the castle and the odd little forest that had replaced it were in full view. Up close the size of the alchemical construct the sword hero had created became obvious. The vines and the stem of the plants were wrapped around each other multiple times but even from a distance, it was obvious that the plants were taller and more widespread than the Castle had been. Truthfully she was both worried and a little optimistic about the plants. The Hero had held the ability to simply destroy the Castle that he hadn't spoken volumes about his goals.

Still, he had grown this whole thing in a matter of seconds. It emphasized the threat he was.

"Stop!" came the command from a soldier at the head of a gaggle of soldiers as Agatha entered the perimeter that had been set up, "No one is permitted to be here by the orders of Lord Alamos."

Agatha snorted at the idea of that old windbag trying to stop her. She flared her mana and watched with some amusement as the foolish brat who had spoken up stumble. Every single person in the perimeter turned towards her.

Alarm. Relief. Fear. Joy.

A multitude of emotions was visible. She may not be an empath but nobles were transparent when you knew what to look for and normal people were even easier to read.

One of them, the aforementioned Lord Alamos, the highest-ranking Lord in the area with the natural exception of the Royal Family, walked towards her and nodded.

"Lady Agatha," he said, putting the title in front of her name with some hesitation, and completely ignoring her apprentices, "Thank the Gods that you are here we need to arrange a rescue operation but the monster is proving to be a challenge but if we had your aid-"

"Challenge?" she asked, interrupting the man before glancing at the many injured soldiers and the absolute lack of damage on the plants. The fool had no idea who had done this and must have underestimated it. The soldiers had paid the price for his arrogance.

"The plants respond viciously to any attempt to remove them. Worse," he said, clenching his fists, "they are immune to the elements, weaponry and can attack with powerful strikes of their own. We have already had two of ours crippled."

Agatha considered the massive construct with fresh eyes and walked towards the plant. She heard her apprentices apologizing to the old bastard. Foolish. You don't apologize to his kind; they only ever take advantage of it. She'd have to speak to them later.

However, thoughts of her apprentices or the fool they were speaking to fled her mind after she touched the plants with her mana.

It was alive in a way that was hard to describe. Complex, full of life in a way that only the most dangerous plants were in the wild. She could almost feel the hundreds of factors that were controlling the lifeform but more than that she could feel its scope.

Fear rose and curiosity trumped it.

The plant had been spread not just around or under the Castle. It was under the whole city.

She ignored the soldiers who tried to stop her from touching the plant. Agatha simply flared her mana and created a small dome of her entropic magic that dissolved the plants as they neared her. Soon, the intelligent construct backed off and left her alone but only after trying to poison and paralyze her.

How adorable. It was well-designed amateur work.

It was docile right now but her magic could very well be the critical piece needed to shatter it. Entropic magic was powerful but she didn't want to imagine the consequences of something like this being out of control. She needed to study this very, very carefully.

Especially since there were a great many people who were still alive inside it.

Agatha inspected the plants binding the blonde-haired girl.

Paralysis, sleep and a powerful Curse Seal. Just as it had been for the previous prisoners.

She flared her magic and the dome that was surrounding her, Magnus and the soldiers expanded rapidly. All life, except the girl who was bound, was annihilated outside her dome for nearly ten meters, the plants withered and were reduced to dust in seconds and that dust vanished within another couple of instants.

"Go," she commanded. The soldiers, used to the process by now, jumped into action and picked up the girl before the plants could grow back. Once they had returned to safety she reduced the size of her dome and watched the plants grow and surround them once more.

The incredible speed at which they grew made it look like time had been accelerated around them and she saw Magnus flinch as they reached for her barrier only to disintegrate. The soldiers tightened their grip on their swords and spears.

Agatha kept moving. They followed with suppressed hesitation.

The plants were fast, powerful, resilient and dangerous. They were well designed, well-programmed and more than a little powerful but they could not face her. Not when her magic was especially attuned to killing living beings.

"Next," she said to Magnus, who nodded, focused on his Clairvoyance, allowing him to see through his mana, and pointed in the right direction.

The girl was the thirtieth person she had rescued and Agatha was getting the sense that the Sword Hero was a great deal more careful than she had assumed. She had checked for Aultcray first and had found nothing but every other person was accounted for. Even the servants and soldiers were present. But the presence of everyone except for his target made the absence of the libraries and the Vault of artefacts and gold even more striking.

He had killed the King and robbed Mirellia blind. Not to mention losing their ancestral home. This was a massive insult combined with an immense threat. House Melromarc was finished unless a miracle occurred.

Normally this wouldn't concern Agatha. One royal family was the same as any other. Corrupt scum to the last but with a War and the Waves arriving soon? No, it was unacceptable. She'd have to speak to Edgar and support Mirellia. It was the only practical option. Of course, if the Sword Hero wanted vengeance on the Queen of Melromarc as well then backing the woman up could be a mistake. Perhaps she should wait and see. Adrian's response was not going to be subtle if the show he put on was any indication.

They moved on from one person to the next. Most were fairly easy to rescue as the plants didn't make much of a fuss. Sure, they tried to attack anyone that attempted to rescue the prisoners but once rescued they didn't do much. It was why she was certain that the Sword Hero had been very careful indeed, she could feel the desire of the construct to attack, but there were some rather strict parameters that it had to follow to be allowed to do so.

After nearly an hour of conducting rescues, she and the rest of the team walked out for the last time with the final set of prisoners.

"Well done," she said. Magnus smiled, his expression tired, while the soldiers all stood up straighter, "Get them to the Healers and take a break."

The captain paused as the others moved away, "What about His Majesty? We didn't find him."

"He's dead and has probably been dissolved by the acid," she lied with a casual shrug, remembering the streak that had flown through the sky after the battle that Magnus had spotted.

The captain looked a little stunned but gathered himself admirably and moved away. Agatha felt a surge of respect. That man was strong.

"Teacher…" said Brittany as she approached, "several Lords have gathered. They are asking for your presence in their meeting."

Agatha rolled her eyes. She doubted that they had 'asked'.

"Don't worry about them," she said, "they'll spend a couple of hours arguing about who's going to be in charge. Edgar will be back soon. We'll let him handle that mess."

Brittany looked relieved.

"I guess you won't be dusting them then," said Magnus and Brittany glared at him, stopping him from saying more.

Agatha ignored their subsequent bickering and approached the plant, placing a hand on it and infusing it with mana, letting the image of the plant fill her mind as her magic showed her what her eyes could not. She had something far more important to deal with than petty squabbles between Houses.

"Brittany, Magnus." she said, flaring her entropic magic to create a small safe place for them, "come here and tell me what you think about it. I want five of its best designed and worst designed characteristics now."

Their argument, which would have continued for hours, cut off immediately and they walked up next to her and started to work with the plant, following the mana trail she had left.

It was odd not to have Ethan pacify both of them.

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