Chapter 53: Trial

"Damn it..."

Elmer Diaz watched the menacing crowd gathered before him, a cold sweat breaking out along his spine.

Nova, former Adventurers' Guild Master of Golden Wheat Town and high-tier elemental knight.
Catherine, former High Priestess of the Temple of the Goddess of Fortune in Golden Wheat Town and high-tier priest.
Memnon, former Adventurers' Guild Master of Sentinel Town and high-tier warrior.
Mark, former Adventurers' Guild Master of Black Rock Town and high-tier rogue.
Three high-tier inquisitor mages sent by the Fisher Wizard Tower.
Three high-tier priests from the temples of Sentinel Town, Black Rock Town, and Copper Mine Town.
Along with ten high-tier paladins and over fifty mid-tier adventurers of various classes.

These formidable professionals, exuding overwhelming prestige, surrounded Elmer Diaz like an impenetrable copper wall, boxing him in right beside the undeniable evidence of his crimes.

Ordinarily, Guild Master Nova and the others, who had evacuated from Golden Wheat Town, Sentinel Town, and Black Rock Town, would not have stopped in Copper Mine Town, but would have headed straight back to Boulder City to report on their mission.

However, following the extremely severe incident that had just occurred here, they were urgently recalled from halfway to Boulder City to provide backup.

One of the high-tier inquisitor mages unfurled a warrant scroll, cast [Amplification] upon himself, and spoke with a voice like a booming bell that resonated across the entire field:

"Elmer Diaz, born in Copper Mine Town of the Boulder Kingdom."

"When he was a young child, his father excavated an unregistered magical heritage of the Fisher Wizard Tower from a mine, and applied the magical equipment within it to the young Elmer Diaz, making him clever, sharp, and brilliantly talented from an early age—yet!"

The high-tier inquisitor mage's voice pitched sharply upward:

"His father was completely blinded by greed! Ever since Elmer Diaz was a child, he seduced him into secretly stealing the mysteries of spellcraft, acting as a despicable, unacknowledged hedge wizard!"

"Such conduct severely endangered the safety and lives of the citizens around Copper Mine Town!"

"Throughout Elmer Diaz's brief forty-one years of life, he cast spells in secret on numerous occasions, causing eleven innocent families in Copper Mine Town to meet with tragic fates, and ultimately helping his father amass a vast fortune of ill-gotten wealth!"

"And nearly a month ago, Elmer Diaz finally committed the greatest atrocity of his lifetime!"

The high-tier inquisitor mage slowly raised his hand, pointing behind the criminal.

Behind Elmer Diaz lay a colossal fissure, nearly a kilometer long and over three hundred meters wide.

Looking down from its jagged, interlocking edges, there was only an endless darkness that swallowed all light, as if this fracture led straight to the endless abyss.

"Elmer Diaz!"

The high-tier inquisitor mage shouted harshly:

"You utterly foolish dolt! To willingly cut yourself off from the glory and protection of the Fisher Wizard Tower! Turning your back on the righteous and lofty path, you chose instead to scurry and hide like a rat in a gutter, acting as a third-rate hedge wizard!"

"With nothing more than your meager tricks and shallow understanding—"

His finger stabbed fiercely toward the abyssal fissure, his roar echoing across the wilderness:

"You actually dared to rashly unleash the 8th-circle evocation spell [Earthquake]?! Do you have any idea what kind of disaster this mad act has brought about?!"

At this point, the accusations went far beyond merely reading out charges. Judging by the high-tier inquisitor mage's near-hysterical expression, Elmer Diaz's actions had perhaps even caused some personal grievance between the mage and himself.

"You not only destroyed one of the three mines your hometown relied upon for survival, cutting off the livelihood of a massive wave of refugees retreating from the Golden Wheat Plain!"

"More fatally, your [Earthquake] collapsed the Amos Mine, plunging it into the vast underground cavern system!"

"With your own hands, you opened the door to the surface world for those evil drow elves lurking beneath the earth!"

"The people of the Golden Wheat Plain have just lost their homes due to the mind flayers appearing in the lower monster forest to the north. Now, because of your madness, they and the innocent people of your hometown must face the drow elves' blades and dark magic head-on!"

Every sharp cry from the inquisitor mage fell like a heavy hammer, pounding relentlessly against Elmer's heart.

Those cold, piercing gazes seemed intent on nailing him to the spot, and the joint pressure exerted by the numerous high-tier professionals made even breathing difficult for him.

He had nothing to say in response to the high-tier inquisitor mage's accusations.

What was there to say anyway?

Should he tell them, "You were the ones who sent people underground to dismantle my undead servants for fun and provoked me first"? Or should he say, "Sorry, I actually tried my best to reduce the power of the [Earthquake], but I didn't expect it to be this terrifying"?

If he said that, the paladins would probably swarm him and chop him into mincemeat the very next second.

At this moment, Elmer Diaz only hoped the Fisher Wizard Tower was merely here to drag him back to serve as magical forced labor.

'It'll be fine...'

He desperately tried to comfort himself inwardly:

'I mastered 6th-circle spells entirely through self-study; no matter how you look at it, I'm a genius. According to the grading system, I should be an 11th or even 12th-level mid-tier mage. As long as I can master a single 7th-circle spell, I'll be qualified as a 13th-level professional and step into the ranks of high-tier professionals... They won't just kill me off so easily!'

Just as he struggled to straighten his spine, hoping to use his silver tongue to secure slightly better treatment as future magical forced labor before being hauled away...

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A dense, hair-raising shrieking sound erupted without warning from the depths of the bottomless fissure!

The expressions of all the enforcers changed drastically in an instant—

"Enemy attack!"

One of the three high-tier inquisitor mages immediately raised his staff, and everyone present saw the light ignite upon it... but no one saw the effect of the spell.

It wasn't until a rain of arrows crashed against an invisible barrier, and the numerous non-spellcasting professionals who had been preparing to dodge or defend against the arrow shower finally understood, that the master mage had indeed cast a spell.

5th-circle evocation spell—[Wall of Force]!

The evil enemies beneath the earth were clearly unwilling to be blocked by a mere 5th-circle spell. Before the rain of arrows had even ceased, several ink-thick, giant spheres were silently lobbed up from the depths of the fissure, exploding violently in mid-air!

2nd-circle evocation spell—[Darkness]!

The impenetrable darkness, like spilled ink, instantly swallowed a large area along the edge of the fissure.

Seeing this signature spell, anyone would understand who they were facing.

Someone shouted: "It's the drow! Watch out for their sneak attacks in the dark!"

Beneath the magic-created darkness, along the steep, razor-sharp rock walls of the fissure, hundreds of unbelievably agile black figures emerged like ghosts, climbing upward at a jaw-dropping speed.

In this moment of chaos, Elmer Diaz realized his opportunity had arrived.

However, this opportunity was not on the surface, but underground.

And so, he turned around with fierce determination, plunging headfirst into the endless, dark chasm below.