The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

Squads of fully armed soldiers poured through the streets and alleys like a flood, spreading throughout the Rock of Bral and sealing off every key intersection.

It was still morning, and the residents had only just begun going about their day when the sudden commotion caught them completely off guard.

Anyone who tried to leave was turned back by the soldiers. No explanation was given, only the same response: "The entire city is under martial law. We're searching for enemies."

No one knew who the enemy was—not even the soldiers themselves.

Their orders were simply to obey. Whoever their captain pointed at, they killed!

Anser led his group to the main avenue of Middle City. Before they split up, he gathered Stoll, Iris, and the others together and cast a Twinned 8th-level Intellect Fortress, giving all seven of them an extra layer of protection.

Intellect Fortress granted them resistance to psychic damage as well as advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. It was indispensable when fighting Mind Flayers.

Without it, they might not withstand a Mind Blast, leaving them helpless as their brains were devoured.

There was no need to worry about Rand and Evan's group either. Paladins and clerics had spells like Protection from Evil and Good, making them much safer than warriors like Makaria.

After giving them a few final instructions, Anser took Salian, Giant Tail, and ten wizards dressed in gold-patterned court robes straight into the Great Market, which was already under military control. This was the heart of Middle City, crowded with all sorts of people.

The surrounding residents and merchants stared blankly at them, having no idea what they intended to do.

"Right here!" Anser said, pointing at the ground beneath his feet. "Giant Tail, protect the Spatial Anchor and the wizards—"

Before he could finish, a dense burst of gunfire suddenly rang out in the distance. From the sound of it, it was coming from Lower City.

"Something's happening!" His brow furrowed slightly, and he immediately gave the order. "Move!"

The lead court wizard didn't dare delay. With a wave of his hand, he released the Spatial Anchor, and an inverted pyramid appeared out of thin air, hovering above the ground and flashing with blue light.

Four wizards took positions around it and simultaneously pressed their hands against the pyramid. Rings of magical radiance immediately rippled outward, spreading at tremendous speed and forming an invisible magical barrier in the blink of an eye.

Anser had already transformed into his half-dragon form and flown into the air. Seeing this, he felt considerably more at ease.

Lower City was in complete chaos, black smoke from firearms filling the air, with a faint trace of holy radiance visible through the haze.

There was movement in Upper City as well. It looked like the Mind Flayers had already realized something was wrong.

Mind Flayers probably shared telepathic communication. Once one Mind Flayer knew what was happening, all the others would be on alert.

That meant they had to act immediately. They couldn't afford to wait even a single second.

'I hate surprises!'

Anser waved a hand, and his Wildfire Spirit appeared beside him in the form of a fiery bird. Rex the pseudodragon and Maeve appeared at the same time.

They weren't his main combat force. Their primary purpose was to help him scout the area and provide support.

Anser flew low over the streets, his eyes rapidly sweeping across everyone within sight. At the same time, one magical glow after another lit up around him—Mage Armor, False Life, Fire Shield, Divine Favor...

'Nothing here. Nothing here either...'

He circled the Great Market once, opening windows and doors to make sure no one had been missed, yet found absolutely nothing.

'None at all? Did they escape?'

He wasn't discouraged and continued expanding the search area.

The soldiers had already been briefed. Seeing that the operation had unexpectedly begun ahead of schedule, they quickly split into groups, calling residents out of their homes before going inside to search. They didn't even overlook cellars or storerooms.

"ROAR! DIE—!"

A thunderous shout boomed across Middle City.

Anser turned toward the sound and saw Stoll dragging his greatsword diagonally behind him as he charged like a gale toward a group dressed like young nobles.

The greatsword swept upward from close to the ground, aimed directly at one of the youths.

Clang!

At the critical moment, a fully armored warrior carrying a shield threw himself between them and forcibly blocked the blow. Even so, the impact sent him flying backward. He slammed into a wall with a muffled crash.

"Stop..." Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose as he forced himself to reach out and intervene.

Stoll was already in front of the youth, his greatsword cleaving straight down.

"No—!"

The not particularly sharp blade met no resistance whatsoever. It split the youth in two from head to toe, blood and entrails spraying outward with the mangled halves of his body, painting a fan-shaped arc of crimson across the ground.

[Target killed. 75 experience points gained.]

Anser froze for a moment before realizing that this wasn't a Mind Flayer!

Stoll also stood stunned for an instant. What he saw was shattered brain matter and a human corpse. The faint purple tentacles he had seen coiled around the youth's head earlier seemed to have been nothing more than an illusion, never appearing again.

He stood there blankly before turning toward Anser.

Anser immediately pulled up the combat log and soon discovered an unfamiliar term:

Mind Flayer Symbiotic Larva!

'What the hell is that?!'

He had never heard of a symbiote. There were parasites, sure, but since when were there symbiotes?

"Catch him! I'll pay ten thousand gold coins!" A blood-covered man in the street glared fixedly at Stoll.

The expressions of the surrounding onlookers immediately changed, their eyes flickering with temptation. Ten thousand gold coins—many people couldn't earn that much in an entire lifetime.

But when they saw the soldiers surrounding Stoll, they all behaved themselves again.

Anser beat his dragon wings and descended beside the corpse in a gust of wind. Raising a hand, he summoned a ghostly blue Mage Hand, which rummaged through the sticky brain matter a few times before pulling out something resembling a tadpole's tail.

"He was parasitized by a Mind Flayer!" The spectral hand opened its palm, displaying the object for everyone to see.

Without waiting for anyone else to react, Anser turned toward Stoll. "You did nothing wrong. Keep going. If you run into something like this again, you can capture them first."

"Got it." Stoll's spirits immediately lifted, and a confident smile returned to his face.

Anser turned and flew back, his Truesight sweeping over every person in the streets and alleys.

Just then, his gaze sharpened as the corner of his eye caught a fleeting flash of pale purple.

He abruptly wheeled around and dove toward the window where he'd seen it. The moment he glanced up and noticed the emblem on the tall tower, he was startled.

This was the Mages' Guildhall!

Perhaps his sudden attack had been too fierce and decisive. Before he could hesitate, a spellcaster in black robes smashed through the window and hovered in midair directly in front of him.

The next instant, an invisible wave suddenly erupted from the black-robed spellcaster without the slightest warning, engulfing Anser in an instant.

Anser instinctively expanded his Antimagic Field, but it had no effect whatsoever.

A piercing explosion rang out inside his mind. His own psionic power erupted instinctively in response, forming a Protective Field that blocked all the damage.

[You have been struck by a Mind Flayer Arcanist's Psychic Blast. You are forced to make a high-difficulty Intelligence saving throw. You possess Magic Resistance and are protected by Intellect Fortress. Saving throw successful. Protective Field has blocked the remaining shockwave...]

Psychic Blast really was powerful. Pure psionic power like this wasn't affected by Antimagic Field, but Anser had extremely high Intelligence and a whole pile of resistances.

After he succeeded on the saving throw, his resistances negated nearly half the damage. What remained wasn't even enough to break through his psionic field.

The corner of his mouth rose. The operation had been full of unexpected complications, but this time he'd finally caught a big one!

The black-robed wizard's expression turned grave. He hadn't expected his surprise attack to accomplish absolutely nothing.

He was just about to cast another spell when silver mist flashed before his eyes. The six-winged creature appeared directly in front of him, smiling as though he'd just spotted an old friend.

There was no time to think. With a thought, the Mind Flayer activated the spell-like ability Lightning Bolt, but his psionic power couldn't weave magic power. Nothing happened.

Antimagic Field!

"Come here, you—!"

Anser lunged forward, his vicious dragon claws reaching out. Completely disregarding the Mind Flayer Arcanist's feeble physical strength and flight speed, he sank his claws deep into its neck, shoulder, and collarbone.

Bang!

He slammed it hard against the wall.

The wall cracked and bones shattered. Anser's dragon claws punched through its chest and seized its spine. Filthy blood gurgled from the wound, streaming down its black robes in thick rivulets.

Its disguise collapsed, revealing the Mind Flayer's true form. Its writhing arcane tentacles tried to attack Anser, only for him to casually rip them off with his other dragon claw.

For the first time, Anser experienced what it felt like to fight with such overwhelming physical brutality.

Satisfying. Simple. Direct.

Once Antimagic Field was up, everyone had to fight hand-to-hand on equal terms!

The Mind Flayer Arcanist's signature Psychic Blast was useless, it couldn't cast spells, and all its magic items were suppressed. In the hands of a humanoid dragon, it was nothing more than a meat chicken with tentacles.

"How did you discover us?"

A telepathic voice reached him, laden with the Mind Flayer's confusion and unwillingness to accept defeat.

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