Only when the swaying red ponytail disappeared from his sight did El-Melloi II heave a long sigh of relief.

"Teacher... do you know that girl?"

Gray looked at her teacher curiously. For her, El-Melloi II's reaction was quite rare. In Gray's opinion, the girl with red twin ponytails was pretty and lively, and gave people a very friendly feeling. But for her teacher, it was as if she was facing a terrifying demon.

"Well... since you've seen it all, I have nothing to hide."

El-Melloi II nodded.

"She calls herself Red Ponytail. Of course, you can imagine that this is just a nickname. Her real name is unknown. I met her several times during the Holy Grail War ten years ago."

"well?"

Hearing this, Gray was stunned.

"Ten years ago? But that girl looked only thirteen or fourteen years old..."

"She was like this back then, exactly the same as now, with no change at all, as if time didn't matter to her at all... I never thought she was from the Thousand Worlds Tree, this is really troublesome..."

"What kind of place is that called the Thousand Worlds Tree?"

"To the Magic Association, that's heresy."

"heresy?"

"That's right."

El-Melloi II reached out and pulled out a cigar from his pocket.

"You may not know this yet, but the Thousand Worlds Tree was once a place that housed various magic families. Throughout its long history, many magic families declined for various reasons, and the Thousand Worlds Tree housed them all and integrated them. It can be said that the Thousand Worlds Tree at that time was an alliance of weak magician families. Of course, the Magic Association at that time did not take the Thousand Worlds Tree seriously, but..."

"but?"

"After that, the Thousand Worlds Tree suddenly announced that it would start the Holy Grail War and killed the members sent by the Magic Association. This was equivalent to declaring war on the Magic Association head-on. The enraged Magic Association also sent people to..."

At this point, El-Melloi II was a little frustrated. At the time, he was busy with other matters and had no idea what to do. In fact, by the time he knew about this matter, the candidates sent by the Magic Association had already arrived in Romania, so he had no choice but to give up.

Now it seems that giving up may be the right choice.

"What's the result?"

Hearing this, Gray was a little frightened. Although she didn't know much about the Magic Association, she knew that this was definitely not an easy task.

"How should I put it... the result was a draw. Something went wrong in the Holy Grail War. Although there was a problem on the side of the Magic Association, it seems that the Thousand Worlds Tree did not gain any benefits. After that, the Thousand Worlds Tree may have reached some agreement with the Magic Association and migrated to East Asia. I heard that they are researching a new type of magic there..."

"But what does this have to do with the lady with the red ponytail?"

"That guy is a monster."

"Strange...monster?"

Gray was stunned upon hearing this, while El-Melloi II nodded.

"Yes, in the Holy Grail War, that girl alone suppressed all of us and the Servants... She is the Master of CASTER, but even without the help of CASTER, she is enough to fight against all the Heroic Spirits. If you ask me to evaluate, then her ability is probably at least at the Grand Rank level..."

Having said this, El-Melloi II was silent for a moment, and then did not say anything else.

"Okay, let's go."

"Ah, yes."

Although she didn't know why her teacher didn't continue, Gray was very obedient and didn't ask any questions. Instead, she followed El-Melloi II and continued to move forward on the mountain trail.

The truth is not that simple.

While looking at his disciples, El-Melloi II sighed inwardly. Just as he said before, the Thousand World Tree Clan had withdrawn from Europe and settled in East Asia. Many magicians believed that they had reached a compromise with the Magic Association and went to live in seclusion in East Asia. After all, it was a desert of magic, and the Thousand World Tree Clan, which had cut off its connection with the modern magic circle, would not receive support from other families. Basically, many families in the Clock Tower regarded it as a kind of self-exile.

But now, the Thousand Worlds Tree appeared here.

U.K.

The base camp of the clock tower.

More importantly, it was the red ponytail that came.

This is like transporting nuclear warheads to the border of an enemy country.

It's almost like the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In fact, after the Holy Grail War ended and he returned to the Clock Tower and inherited the name of El-Melloi, he had investigated the matter of Red Ponytail several times. But there was no information. The righteous magical girl who called herself Red Ponytail seemed to have jumped out of the cracks of the stone.

Until recently, he got some news from Japan, saying that Red Ponytail was very close to the witch of the Kuonji family and the fifth magician, and they had close contacts. But that was all, after all, neither the witch of the Kuonji family nor the fifth magician was someone that a small, declining LORD of the El-Melloi family could visit casually.

But now that I think about it...

What a hassle...

It is rumored that the Thousand World Tree has obtained the third magic. Many people scoff at the accuracy of this rumor. Their idea is very simple. If the Thousand World Tree really has the third magic, then there is no need to go to East Asia to live in seclusion (or exile). As long as the news of the possession of the third magic is released, it will be able to enter the highest level of the Magic Association immediately.

But now it seems that the situation is not that simple. If the Thousand World Tree really obtained the third magic, then the close relationship between its representative Red Ponytail and the Fifth Magician seems to be understandable.

Then another problem arises.

Why would the Thousand World Trees, who had obtained the Third Law, leave the center of magic and head to remote East Asia? And they also deliberately cut off all ties with the magic circle... What exactly do they want to do?

El-Melloi II had a feeling that he would soon get the answer.

And this answer doesn't seem to be what I want to see.

Peel City.

In the original sense, this is just a castle, or an old castle that can appear in various western fantasy movies. There is a drawbridge, a moat, a lake, a forest, and a remote area with few people. This place is quite suitable for vampire legends or locked room murders.

However, in the eyes of Fang Zheng and Hua Xian, there was something even more speechless about the castle before them.

“Hmm…”

After just one look at the castle, Heitonghuahua suddenly covered her mouth, as if she had seen something disgusting.

“See?”

Looking at the flowers around him, Fang Zheng reached out and patted her shoulder, and a magical light flashed quietly.

"This is the nature of magicians. Even building a castle is so disgusting..."

That’s right, if others saw it, they would just think it was an old city that had fallen into disrepair. However, in the eyes of Fang Zheng and Xianhua, they saw something beyond its “appearance”.

It was like a huge person, turned inside out like a ball, as if the skin was stuffed into the body, while the flesh and bones were exposed to the air.

“Hoo…Hoo…”

"You have to be careful. Although your roots are indeed very suitable for the study and learning of magic, your disadvantage is that you are too sensitive. The more you come into contact with these perverts, the easier it is to become distorted... Next time, I will teach you some protective spells."

"Huh...thank you, Xiaohong."

After taking a breath, Flowers finally came to her senses. It wasn't that she was being overly sensitive. In fact, the moment she saw the castle, she felt as if she was standing in front of a bloody giant corpse. She could even clearly see its internal organs gradually rotting. The stench of rancidity was overwhelming, as if it was pulling her into a world full of corpses.

“This is…”

"Yes, this is the magician's workshop. Of course, the workshop will look different depending on personal preference. But the one in front of us is obviously super disgusting."

Fang Zheng gave his evaluation without hesitation, and Xianhua nodded silently. She had also taken classes in Fiore's magic workshop, but Fiore's workshop gave her a very calm and secure feeling. However, she obviously could not adapt to the one in front of her.

"Okay, let's go in."

Fang Zheng didn't say anything more, but walked in directly with the flowers. Standing at the door was an old man who looked like a butler. He took the invitation letter, checked it carefully, respectfully made way, and sent a servant to lead the two into the castle.

“Da…da…da…”

In the empty castle, the sound of footsteps echoed from time to time, which made people feel irritated.

"Who else is coming besides us?"

Fang Zheng asked as she walked in the corridor bored. Upon hearing her question, the servant leading the way bowed his head respectfully and answered.

"You two are the first ones to arrive here."

"Huh? The audience arrived earlier than the actors. Do these people have any sense of professionalism?"

“Ahahahaha…”

Hearing Fang Zheng's complaints, Flowers couldn't help but smile bitterly. Although they were here to watch the show, there was no need to say such things. Although Flowers also found that the red ponytail girl in front of her hated magicians, the way she treated others as clowns was really interesting.

The servant who led the way did not speak. He just led the two to the reception room and then said goodbye and left. Fang Zheng sat down on a sofa, took out a PSP from his pocket, and started playing happily.

“It’s hard to imagine…”

Xianhua sat there blankly, looking at the scene around her - ever since she entered the castle, she had discovered that the owner of the castle had a kind of genuine love for angels.

There are angels on the stained glass, angels carved on the pillars, angels painted on the walls, angels on the hanging paintings, the decorative patterns on the cabinets, the armrests of the sofas, the surface of the coffee tables, almost every place you can see is filled with angels.

"Xiaohong..."

"Um?"

"Magician...why do you want to trace the source?"

Flower murmured to herself and asked. Of course she knew that the magician's target was the root, but as a magical girl, this was something Flower could not understand.

"Who knows, but... I do have a few small guesses."

Having said this, Fang Zheng chuckled.

"In fact, if you think about it carefully, you will find that the whole thing has been ridiculous from the beginning."

"funny?"

"Yes, you should have heard from Fiore that modern magic has declined."

“I have heard about this…”

"That's true in fact. Compared to these poor fellows today, the magicians of the Age of Gods were quite strong. They were really able to achieve the level described in myths and legends. Things like Cinderella's crystal slippers were a piece of cake for the magicians of that era. However, have you ever thought about why the magicians of that era didn't pursue the Origin Vortex? They were obviously hundreds or even thousands of times stronger than modern magicians. Whether it was powerful magic, spells, or mystery, they were far superior to modern magicians. And you've read myths, so you should know that in myths and legends, many ancient magicians had the bloodline of gods, or even demigods. With their abilities, no matter how difficult it was to pursue the Origin Vortex, it wouldn't be more difficult than for modern magicians."

"Now that you mention it...it does seem to make some sense, but maybe a magician has already arrived here before?"

"Hehe, if such a person really existed, he would have been targeted and worshipped by magicians by now. Unfortunately, he doesn't exist at all."

"And why is that?"

Hearing this, Xianhua's curiosity was also aroused, and Fangzheng put down the PSP in his hand, thought for a moment, and then revealed a malicious smile.

"I don't know either, but I have an interesting guess... Flowers, you should know the game of passing the message."

"Of course I know that."

"Then you should also know that the most interesting thing about the game of passing the message is that once there are more people passing the message, the meaning of what the last person says is completely different from the first person's."

"Hmm... that's interesting... eh? Wait, so what you mean is...?"

"That's right."

Fang Zheng was now rocking back and forth on the sofa, smiling like a little fox.

"If I were to guess, it's possible that the ancestor of a great magician told his descendants something like this, like if you want to find the treasure I left behind, go to the Origin Vortex, where you can get everything you want. Maybe this magician just wanted to inspire his descendants, or maybe he gave them another way. After all, there is everything in the Origin, and when they reach the Origin, they will naturally find what they want. As a result, after a while, the meaning was misunderstood... Hehe, it's like a pirate told everyone before his execution that if you want to find my treasure, go to the Grand Line - and then a group of people went out to sea for decades, and they were still looking for treasure at the beginning, but in the end, for some reason, the rumor gradually twisted into whoever found the treasure could become the king of pirates... How about it? Very interesting, isn't it?"

"It is very interesting indeed."

At this moment, suddenly, an old voice was heard.

"In that case, are all the magicians who seek the root cause clowns?"

"That seems about right to me."

Xianhua stood up in surprise at the sudden voice behind her, while Fangzheng was still sitting on the sofa, fiddling with the PSP in his hand.

"What these magicians are doing now is just like picking up a piece of debris from an alien UFO on the beach and hoping to use this piece of debris to restore the entire alien civilization. There is almost nothing more ridiculous than this."

At this point, Fang Zheng pressed the pause button, then looked up at the door. With a faint sound of metal friction, an old man in a wheelchair slowly appeared in front of the two of them. He looked to be over 80 years old, and his entire body was like a skinny mummy. Behind the old man was a teenager - no, it was more like a puppet than a teenager. He was like a robot without self-awareness, pushing the old man's wheelchair, his eyes staring blankly into the void.

"Haha, young people nowadays are all very sharp-tongued. Are you the messengers from that heresy?"

"I don't want to be called a heretic by you."

Fang Zheng curled his lips.

"The Thousand Worlds Tree exists for this world. At least... it is more valuable than your Magic Association."

"How can a little girl like you understand the ideals of a magician?"

Hearing this, the old man frowned slightly and became serious, but Fang Zheng glanced at him and lowered his head again.

"Your ideals are worthless to the Thousand Worlds Tree, and they are also worthless to the world. Of course, if you like to enjoy yourself behind closed doors, that's fine, but disturbing others is another matter... I don't think governments want unexplained disasters and murders to happen in their countries."

"snort!"

Hearing this, the old man's face darkened. Fang Zheng had hit their Achilles' heel. If it were a few hundred years ago, they could still use their mysterious powers to cooperate with the rulers. But now, with the progress and development of the times, magicians have gradually been marginalized. Although they can still rely on their wealth and power to gain a certain degree of support, but... it is no longer the same as before.

"I want to see what the Thousand Worlds Tree is capable of!"

As he spoke, the old man tapped the cane in his hand gently. In an instant, hundreds of golden butterflies emerged from all directions, then they gathered together and flew towards Fang Zheng and the flowers.

Facing the old man's attack, Fang Zheng didn't even raise his head. Instead, it was Flowers who attacked first.

She stretched out her right hand, and her fingers quickly drew a series of mysterious characters in the air. The next moment, a wall of flames rose from the ground, immediately separating the old man from them. The golden butterflies were directly swallowed by the flames, and disappeared without a trace.

Then, Xianhua suddenly waved her hand, and the next moment the burning flame was quickly retracted. Except for leaving a black burnt mark on the ground, everything around her seemed unchanged.

"So..."

It was only at this time that Fang Zheng put down the PSP in his hand and looked at the old man again.

"Times have changed, old man."