Diary of a Dead Wizard
Chapter 674: You Won

For a moment—perhaps a few seconds, perhaps a few minutes—Kismet felt as if he had been sealed inside the Storm Eye.

There wasn't a trace of light in any direction, nor could he hear any sounds.

He vaguely sensed someone ahead.

Perhaps it was Lucy who had been sucked in earlier, or it might just be his hallucination.

The corners of his mouth still maintained the upward curve from the second before being frozen, as if he didn't care at all about being ice-sealed for the Storm Eye's sealing.

But his fate wasn't destined to end there.

Just before the Ice Lock was about to completely freeze Kismet's consciousness, the rock-solid ice blocks suddenly developed cracks.

These cracks spread just right to Kismet's surroundings without touching the central black hole in the slightest.

Then, white threads appeared wrapped around Kismet's hands, feet, torso, head—every part of his body.

These thin threads were like puppet strings, covering his entire form.

"What a pity for Miss Lucy." As the ice layer cracked, Kismet's mouth corners rose slightly again. "Without the diary's permission, you can't kill me. Just like I can't kill myself either."

Then the threads wrapped around his body suddenly tightened. Without leaving the slightest mark on his skin, they gradually pulled his entire body out of the cracked ice blocks.

Fresh, cold air suddenly rushed into his chest and lungs, also causing Kismet's frozen brain to start working again.

He found himself floating in the air, rapidly moving away from Old Days Manor.

Then...

"Splat!"

The elegant Kismet landed rather inelegantly beside Saul's feet.

After two seconds of silence, he got up from the ground and saw Saul standing beside him.

Saul wasn't looking at Kismet at this moment, but said to Corey, "You can continue now."

Corey stared at Saul's hands for a while before reactivating the Ice Lock formation that had been interrupted for a few seconds.

Since Kismet had been rescued by Saul, the mirror he was holding naturally left its original position.

However, the Storm Eye had been temporarily sealed, giving Corey a chance to pause and catch her breath.

While Saul was rescuing people, she had someone reposition a mirror for projection at the original center point.

Although the original formation's power was insufficient, it could still be used to reinforce the seal.

Kismet still had dirt and grass seeds on his face, just sitting on the ground without getting up.

Saul had no mood to care about him at this moment.

To rescue someone just now, he had used for the first time a magic he had never used in front of others—a spell he had developed based on fate lines called Dawn Guidance.

This spell could currently only be used on himself and people close to him.

It could slightly influence the surrounding environment through the pulling of mutual fate lines, finding that sliver of direction that might bring dawn in a darkness representing death.

This spell was very abstract—not only could it only work on people close to Saul, but it only took effect in dangerous moments.

So after Saul developed this spell, he had never used it; everything was theoretical research.

This time being able to find the ice layer's weakness and rescue Kismet without affecting the Storm Eye was probably due to Kismet's explosive luck, managing to grasp that thread of hope.

After casting this spell, Saul's mental power almost immediately became dispirited. Now he could barely stand in place and couldn't do anything else.

It wasn't until Herbert and Pei'er cooperated to press the frozen Storm Eye back underground that Saul recovered somewhat and turned toward Kismet, who was still sitting beside him.

"Were you sleepwalking just now?" Saul's voice sounded flat but carried a hint of reproach. "I went through great trouble to create an opening, yet you were there in a daze? Did you really want to be sealed together with Lucy?"

Kismet looked up and suddenly began laughing loudly.

"Hahahaha..."

"Hahahahahahahahaha..."

He laughed so hard he fell backward on the ground, like having convulsions.

"Are you happy about surviving the disaster?"

"Haha... phew, I'm happy about the surprises you keep creating." Catching sight of Pei'er and Herbert flying over, Kismet immediately sat up. "I thought you would use the diary's power to save me. Now I discover it's not entirely like that. Of course I'm happy."

Saul blinked and didn't respond.

When Kismet had been in crisis just now, the diary gave no hint whatsoever.

But he seemed certain that the diary or some power would definitely rescue him.

Saul had long found connections between Kismet and the diary. Now it seemed this connection was even closer than he thought.

"Could Kismet be something like the diary's artifact spirit?"

While thinking, Pei'er and Herbert both landed beside Saul.

Pei'er looked at Kismet with a complex expression, still somewhat shocked by his recent performance.

"Regardless, thank you for still cooperating with us to complete the Storm Eye's sealing in that crisis."

Kismet still wore a smile, but not as exaggerated as before.

"I just clearly knew that only by sealing the Storm Eye could I possibly survive. Besides, I'm also Sky City's representative here."

"What were you laughing about just now?" Herbert's expression remained serious. His gaze wandered between Saul and Kismet, seeming somewhat suspicious of their relationship.

"Surviving in an almost certain death situation—isn't that worth a good laugh?" Kismet gave a completely different answer than before.

"Hmph." Herbert snorted lightly and turned to ask Saul, "What magic did you use when shooting the arrow and rescuing Kismet?"

Saul answered calmly: "Magic I created based on the Ice Lock formation."

Herbert was obviously unsatisfied with this answer. He wanted to continue asking when he heard Pei'er say nearby, "Alright, now isn't the time to relax. We still can't confirm whether the Storm Eye has been completely sealed. Next, everyone should go back and rest well. I'll have several wizards and apprentices stay behind to observe whether the Storm Eye changes. Once something happens, we'll need to gather again."

Herbert was persuaded by Pei'er, but his gaze on Saul remained unsettling.

Saul endured the third-rank wizard's pressure, trying hard to let his emotional changes show on his face.

"Fine." Herbert stepped back. "Then everyone go back and rest, but remember to stay alert. Once you receive a signal, gather at the fastest speed."

Afterward, both Herbert and Pei'er called groups of people to monitor the Storm Eye's condition.

Kismet secretly ran away during this time, saying he was afraid of being caught again and delivered death.

Without a chance to ask detailed questions, Saul still didn't know why Kismet had been stunned for a moment, directly causing the escape opportunity to vanish instantly.

But now the most critical Storm Eye crisis was resolved.

After the Storm Eye formation was taken over by others, Corey actively approached.

"I'll report Lucy's rebellion to the Stargate Council. If you hadn't reacted quickly this time, our Ice Lock formation would have failed."

Saul didn't modestly deflect: "Not just Lucy's matter, but also Luke. Both had close relationships with the Stargate Council. If not handled well, it might bring big trouble."

As a member of the Glare Family, Corey wasn't worried about this.

"It's fine. Luke died from the Storm Eye eruption, and Lucy nearly ruined the sealing for personal grudges—these are facts. The Stargate Council won't make things difficult for you and me because of this."

After speaking, Corey lowered her head in silence for a moment.

Just as Saul was wondering if he could say goodbye and leave, she suddenly spoke with difficulty, "Could you... could you... could you tell me how you calculated the formation's angles and multipliers so quickly?"

"It's nothing special, just substituting into a fixed formula. Of course, this formula is very hard to derive."

"Formula?" Corey's eyes widened, her round eyeballs almost falling out of their sockets.

After a long while, she lowered her gaze, seeming greatly affected.

"I was still smugly pleased with my projection formula, but you had already discovered the transformation method and even developed a unified formula..."

"...Uh, actually the formula..."

"You won."

"?"

"I still held onto hope before, but now I see you had already researched the Ice Lock formation long ago. Don't worry, I'm not someone who lacks self-awareness. This third-rank selection task... you won."

(End of Chapter)