Chapter 220: A Bold Proposal
After all, angering a powerful elven mage would bring them no benefit. Moreover, the old bishop sensed a familiar feeling from the magic released by Ayla. In his youth, he had traveled across the continent and encountered that legendary being among the elves somewhere. And Ayla, standing before him, bore a striking resemblance to that figure.
Finally, under the complex gaze of Bishop Casalius, Flamme silently picked up Frieren again. Ayla followed her without a word, and the two walked out of the magnificent hall step by step.
Flamme carried Frieren on her back and walked aimlessly through the city streets, with Ayla following beside her.
Ayla wanted to speak several times, but kept quiet after seeing Flamme's expression. The rigid set of her shoulders, the careful way she braced Frieren's weight, it all spoke of determination wrapped around fear.
Frieren's life was slipping away like sand in an hourglass.
For some reason, Flamme felt a strong sense of resentment and frustration welling up inside her. Even though it was only their first meeting, why was she so drawn to the elven girl before her?
Flamme didn't know either. All she knew was that she couldn't save her, and even renowned clergy among humans couldn't save her. The helplessness gnawed at her, a feeling she thought she'd moved past.
"Flamme," Ayla finally spoke, her voice hesitant. "Maybe we should just forget about it."
Ayla couldn't understand why Flamme cared so much about an elf she had just met, especially when the other party was beyond help and giving up was clearly the best option.
"No!" Flamme slowly shook her head, her tone resolute. "I must save her!"
Even she herself didn't know why.
Ayla finally shut her mouth. Humans were truly a strange species, valuing lives they encountered for the first time so much. She wondered how Serie and Kurtz had been able to get along for a thousand years.
Just as Ayla's thoughts drifted, the same realization seemed to strike Flamme as well.
As if suddenly remembering something, Flamme stopped in her tracks. "Teacher Kurtz! Teacher Serie!"
Her voice rose with sudden hope. "Yes! The teachers can definitely do it! They're so strong, they've even killed gods. They must have some way to purify the corrupting power within Frieren completely!"
Flamme's voice trembled with excitement.
However, Ayla's response came coldly from beside her: "But where are they?"
The two teachers had already left the forest and embarked on a journey just like them. There was no way to know where they were now.
"We can use magical letters," Flamme said, grasping at the idea.
Their magical letters to Kurtz had a location tracking function that could be used to find the two teachers.
"Too far!" Ayla replied sharply. "Judging from the dates of their letters, they're probably thousands of miles away from us. Frieren only has three days left."
She let the weight of those words settle. "Even if we travel day and night using the fastest flying magic, it's absolutely impossible to get there in three days."
"Besides..." She glanced at Frieren, still unconscious on Flamme's back, her breathing shallow and labored. "Her current condition can't withstand such a long and bumpy journey."
Flamme did not reply. Ayla was right. It was too far.
'Are we really just going to have to watch Frieren die like this?'
Just then, Ayla's gaze inadvertently swept across the sky above the city. There, a massive magical barrier, like an inverted bowl, enveloped the entire metropolis. The barrier's light was highly stable, drawn from the vast magical power accumulated by all the magic arrays throughout the city, with unimaginable reserves.
Looking at Flamme's unwilling expression, an incredibly bold idea instantly formed in Ayla's mind.
"Flamme, did Teacher Serie teach you teleportation magic?"
"Yes, and I was also taught the highest level of directional teleportation magic, but it's basically useless. After all, the required magic power is too enormous. A single mage simply cannot withstand it."
"Look there!" Ayla pointed upward to the sky above the city.
Flamme followed her finger and saw the massive magical barrier. She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened as she instantly understood Ayla's intention.
"You…you mean," Flamme said in disbelief, "to use the magic of this barrier?"
"That's right!" Ayla nodded emphatically. Her voice carried conviction, though even she didn't fully understand why she had suddenly conceived such a bold idea.
Perhaps she had been inspired by Flamme's desperate desire to save the elven girl before her, something in that stubborn refusal to accept defeat had shifted something in her own thinking.
"The magical power contained within this city's barrier is unimaginably vast. If we can draw upon a portion of it, it would be enough to support a long-distance, targeted teleportation spell. We could send Frieren directly to Kurtz and Teacher Serie!"
Targeted teleportation magic was a modified version of regular teleportation, created by Kurtz over a thousand years ago in a moment of inspiration. He wanted to be able to summon Orger anytime, anywhere. However, because the magic power consumed by any teleportation magic was so frightening, he had only used it once during an experiment. As for teleporting living people, he had never attempted it.
Now, what Ayla was proposing was to use this magic to teleport Frieren to Kurtz's side.
This idea was insane.
Leaving aside how to obtain the heavily guarded barrier's magic source secretly, the sheer complexity of building a teleportation array capable of precise positioning across millions of miles was terrifying. Although Flamme had learned this magic, she had no confidence that she would succeed.
Once the magic went out of control and the teleportation array collapsed, Frieren would be instantly torn to pieces by the spatial turbulence.
"No! This is too dangerous!" Flamme objected instinctively. "Putting aside the consequences of stealing the magic source here, if we fail, Frieren will be torn to shreds by the spatial power."
"Then she can only wait to die!" Ayla said coldly, her words sharp and unavoidable. "She has no time left. She'll die in three days, and she'll die if the teleportation fails. Besides Kurtz and Teacher Serie, who else in this world can save her!?"
She paused, letting her gaze rest on Flamme. "Flamme, the decision is yours. Whatever you decide, I have no objection."
Ayla's words left Flamme speechless for a long time.
She looked down at Frieren's pale, sleeping face and felt her breath, so faint it was almost imperceptible. She remembered the girl's eyes, which had asked, "Why are you so strong?" eyes that held the same kind of devastation she herself had once known.
'Is this girl, who, like herself, has just experienced the destruction of her home, going to be deprived of even her last hope of survival?'
Flamme was caught in the midst of a fierce internal struggle, her expression reflecting the weight of the choice before her. Every second felt stretched, each breath Frieren took on her back a reminder of how little time remained.
Ayla didn't urge her further, but simply looked at Flamme quietly, waiting for her answer.
Time seemed to stretch. It might have been just a moment, or it might have felt like an eternity.
Finally, Flamme raised her head. The hesitation in her eyes had disappeared, replaced by an unusual determination. Her gaze swept across the city's protective barrier, finally settling on Frieren's face.
"Sister Ayla, let's do it!"
[End of Chapter]
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