Chapter 32: Entering the City

"I remember Reed developed something before... a formation that could absorb elements from the surrounding environment, right?"

Faced with everyone's doubts, Nicola fell into deep thought. But no matter how much she speculated, even connecting it to Reed's research, she still couldn't explain everything.

First, this type of formation hadn't been widely used in the main world due to various factors, and its effects were far from ideal. Second, even if the capital was using this formation, the huge consumption would still exist. The main world wasn't like Edenmere - to maintain the capital's barrier for a long time would drain all elements within a ten-kilometer range in just a day or two! But so far, we hadn't seen any signs of this.

"After ruling out all the impossible factors, there's only one answer left..."

Cyrae tilted her head, reaching an unpleasant conclusion.

"So it's really because of the 'System', isn't it?"

I already knew in my heart, and could only sigh in agreement.

From the information I got when peeking into Reider's mind, it was clear that this System could provide various effects out of thin air. Though I wasn't sure exactly how it worked, it definitely gave System carriers huge advantages. As long as Reider had enough of points, getting supplies while under siege shouldn't be a problem. Being even bolder, it might even be possible to run the formation without consuming energy.

"If that's true, then we're in big trouble. This means we can't attack the logistics chain unless we wait until Reider runs out of everything! But how can we break through the capital's defenses?"

Heaven knows how long Reider could hold out with the System, but we weren't planning to wait that long. When we took over this task from Elder Gwendolyn, we planned to finish it quickly. Now Nicola couldn't think of any solution and could only lie helplessly on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Not even your Condensation Sword would work?"

Remembering how Nicola could easily break through Lantine Oasis's defenses, I couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"So far I haven't found anything my Condensation Sword can't cut through, but the problem is I can't even get in! You don't know how annoying these barriers are... ah, forget it! I don't know how to explain it!"

Surprisingly, Nicola showed an annoyed expression about the Condensation Sword question. Probably finding it troublesome to explain verbally, she then looked like she couldn't be bothered to say more.

Since it was a negative answer, others stayed quiet. Theoretically, if we could contact Galadra, she should be able to teleport us directly into the capital. But unfortunately, there was no word from her, and even the celestial weapon "Galadra's Eye" she left behind was only set for sending parallel world people home, so we couldn't count on her.

Seeing that nobody had any ideas, I hesitated for a moment before speaking somewhat uncertainly.

"I do have an unpolished trick... but it doesn't work every time. We'd probably need to try it on site to know if it works!"

"Oh? You really have a way?"

Hearing this, Nicola immediately sat up straight. She had always looked down on my abilities, but seeing me nod again in confirmation, she stood up and patted my shoulder, saying, "Then it's up to you!"

Several hours later, when the sky had completely darkened, we finally left Corovots and flew to above the capital Kyndrill.

The entire capital was brightly lit, but there seemed to be very few people on the streets. In stark contrast, the flat areas around the moat outside the city were completely surrounded by dense armies.

These were obviously the rebels led by those rebellious lords. Though some troops were of varying quality and generally couldn't match regular legions, they made up for it with sheer numbers. You couldn't imagine they were actually facing significant troubles now.

"The barrier's range reaches exactly this spot. It's completely transparent, but it becomes visible with just a slight touch."

Since Nicola had been here before, she led us directly to a quiet corner by the inner bank of the moat where no one would notice us. As she spoke, to demonstrate to everyone, she summoned her Condensation Sword and tried swinging it at the seemingly empty air ahead.

The next moment, a very strange scene appeared. The Condensation Sword passed through a transparent soap bubble-like membrane without any resistance. Although it could easily glide and slash across its surface, the gaps were always filled in by the surrounding membrane, making it impossible to create any holes.

This meant that at most, only the Condensation Sword could go through, while the person and other objects remained blocked outside.

"See? If you have any tricks, you can try them now!"

Nicola spread her hands, signaling me to begin my performance.

To be honest, given such an important task made me quite nervous. Although past experiences had made me more confident, directly using water elements to change reality was still too challenging for me.

That's right! What I planned to use was the same move I used against Camille! The plan was to convert part of the barrier ahead into irrelevant substances at the rule level, which theoretically should create a hole for us to enter.

Though it sounds simple, because my grasp of the Authority was incomplete, every use came with severe side effects like intense headaches. Moreover, this time I needed to maintain the output for quite a while to let everyone enter.

The good news was, compared to dealing with Camille, what I faced now was just a few fairly solid barrier layers, with element density far lower than a biological body.

Plus, I had practiced several times. So before long, the barrier layers ahead seemed to encounter some obstacle and scattered around, finally forming a person-sized hole.

"Oh? Gisphrael's Universal Flow! You've already awakened to this level? No... that looks like just an incomplete version, still far from the real thing!"

Nicola seemed to notice something, but quickly saw that I was red-faced and struggling. She didn't hesitate any longer, carrying me quickly through the hole while calling others to hurry over.

It took about half a minute, and as soon as I relaxed, the hole behind us was quickly filled in by the barrier again.

"Wow! You saw how hard that was for me and you just stood there..."

Finally having enough energy to speak, I couldn't help but fall to my knees and complain loudly. The next second, an intense feeling of exhaustion followed - this was the price of using water elements to change reality. I probably needed to lie on the ground for several minutes to recover a bit.

While Adrian and Cyrae hurried over to apologize, Nicola, having crossed this annoying defense line, flew to the top of the city wall to observe the surroundings.

"How is it? Found any useful information?"

When I finally recovered and caught up with everyone to her position, we found Nicola standing alone in a secluded spot inside the city, with several guard corpses lying around.

We thought she had just arrived and at most cleared and explored the nearby area. However, to everyone's surprise, when Nicola heard my question, she turned around and recited the city's information like she knew it by heart.

"I've investigated the entire city area! Except for the palace, all four barrier energy supply formations have been found, located inside buildings at the four corners of the city walls. The guards there are all humans and basically no match at all. The barrier formation itself and Reider are probably within the palace, but their exact location can't be determined yet. So if we need to destroy the barrier first, we should be able to do it by destroying all four energy supply formations!"

"No way? Have you been here before? How do you know it so well?"

Cyrae immediately felt something was off and asked suspiciously.

You see, this capital was not small at all - though it couldn't match Earth's major cities, it still covered dozens of kilometers in area. Flying from our current position to any corner of the city walls would take at least ten minutes. And I had only rested for less than ten minutes - how could Nicola possibly have explored the entire city?