Half a month later, just as David had anticipated, the red-robed Mage who regularly visited the Bedouin barbarian tribes to purchase 'old magical items, old components, and old ancient texts' was drawn to the Sky City that had appeared out of nowhere in the Anauroch Great Desert. More precisely, he had been sent by the Sayer Red-robed Mages' Society.
The commotion caused by the arrival of Ghost Soul City had been too great; it was detected by the Red-robed Mages' Society all the way across the Continent.
Without a doubt, this red-robed Mage stationed on the outskirts of the Anauroch Great Desert was the closest.
Thus, this red-robed Mage named Davo, without even having time to purchase Neisser's remains, scurried over. And then, with no suspense, David and his companions caught him red-handed.
As a naturally cautious red-robed Mage, he would never willingly place himself in unknown danger. Unfortunately for him, his presence had already been thoroughly sold out by the Bedouin barbarians, who were eager to please their new master.
When Davo was captured by David, the Red Dragon, brought into the city, and bound to a structure resembling a Dissection Table, his mind was in turmoil.
It was as if he had returned to his days as a red-robed apprentice, once randomly selected by his mentor to be a "lucky one," only to become teaching material and an experimental prop for that day's lesson.
But in a mentor's hands, as long as you were sharp enough and deemed worthy of training, you generally wouldn't end up dead so easily.
However, he was now in the hands of the infamous 'Neisser people'!
These madmen, I tell you! he thought. They took a Magic Ship to space thousands of years ago, even reaching the legendary Sky Domain of Yuman's Bastion! They were 'restricted from entry' for their unscrupulous abductions of 'aliens.' Ultimately, Great Arcanist Oberon's strategy to continue space development was rejected due to its low return on investment!
When the old Devil Dalonas, impersonating Shado, the lord of Ghost Soul City, heard the news and came over, he, with a curious yet stern expression, used a scalpel to detach Davo's scalp, which was covered in intricate black markings, from his skull. At that moment, the red-robed Mage finally broke down. Sobbing, he declared that if his life was spared, he would betray the Red-robed Mages' Society and become a loyal dog to 'Ghost Soul City.'
Under such psychologically oppressive circumstances, David quickly extracted the information he wanted from the red-robed Mage, though what he learned was somewhat less satisfactory than he had anticipated.
Although the history of Sayer, the slave country the red-robed Mage belonged to, could be traced back to -1000 by the Valley Calendar—the late period of the Neisser Empire—the Red-robed Mages' Society had not even been established back then. What they practiced was less like spells and more like witchcraft.
Even when the Neisser Sky City shattered to pieces in -339 of the Valley Calendar, those in the far east were completely oblivious; as the saying goes, they were always so behind the times they wouldn't hear about major events until long after they'd passed.
It was the Ilelfaron Elves who were active in the vicinity of Anauroch at that time.
After Neisser rose to power with the help of their magic and Neisser scrolls, these Elves established Mystzorno in the east at Komanso. However, despite nearly three thousand years of development, it never truly flourished until more than five hundred years after the fall of the Neisser Empire. In the Valley Calendar year 261, the Year of Ascension, the Mystlock that Irthagrim had organized the Elf Mages to create was finally completed, marking the beginning of Mystzorno's Golden Age.
Legend had it that this Mystlock, capable of protecting and concealing the entire city-state, operated tirelessly for over four centuries until 714, when it was breached by three Demons leading the 'Army of Darkness,' prompting a massive migration to Eternal Gathering Island across the sea.
Upon hearing this, David and his dragon father, Attilicia, exchanged glances. The truth was now abundantly clear.
The Mithril Energy Core remnants from the ruins of the Neisser Empire had definitely been plundered by those Ilelfaron Elves. Moreover, it was likely that among them was one nearly intact core, which the Elves had repaired and used to power Mystzorno's Mystlock.
Even if it hadn't been destroyed in that war, the Elves had most likely taken it with them to Eternal Gathering Island overseas during the great retreat.
A Mithril Energy Core, then, is probably out of the question, David mused.
Surely it wasn't feasible to venture to Eternal Gathering Island, the stronghold of the High Elves, to get a Mithril Energy Core, was it?
Even if one still existed, I don't believe my half-baked crew could possibly acquire such an item from Eternal Gathering Island, a place teeming with legendary figures. Doing so would very likely alert our enemies.
In the following half a month, they successively captured several spies from the Santarin Society, the Silver Moon Federation, Zokala, and other surrounding powers. The information gathered from their interrogations invariably confirmed this point.
Just as his dragon father Attilicia and the other Dragons were convinced David would temporarily shelve the plan, now lacking a viable means of implementation, and think of something else, David once more kicked open the old Devil Dalonas's door late at night.
The old Devil, who was engrossed in studying Neisser 'antiques,' hadn't even had a chance to refuse when David, holding some recently gathered astronomical observation data, spoke directly, "I'm not here to pick a fight. Could you help me calculate an orbit? And while you're at it, can you design an acceleration device that automatically draws Mana Energy? The power requirement isn't high, but it needs to be able to operate continuously."
The old Devil took the data; it was, indeed, all about The Slaying King Star:
"Oh, so you're planning to make use of my Soul Engine after all?"