Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

A dark blue wind howled across the valley, as sharp as an enormous saber between the Heavens and Earth slashing at the snowy mountain. The wind slashed the top of a few peaks nearby in half. Huge chunks of ice began to collapse.

The same wind left bizarre marks across the white slope. Mo Fan stood within the Wind Domain with wide eyes. He could feel Brianca's rage!

The spacious mountain, including the highest peak, the steep icy cliffs, the gentle snowy slope, and the clear blue sky were filled with the terrifying dark blue wind. It was blowing so fiercely merely because of Brianca's huge surge of emotion!

Mo Fan was terrified. The woman did not even use any magic. Her Domain and aura alone had resulted in such incredible damage when she slightly lost control of her emotions. How incredible was this Brianca's cultivation?

"The blood hasn't permeated into the snow yet. The culprit must be nearby still," Mo Fan said to distract Brianca a little.

He realized how important these little creatures on the mountain were to the Alps Institute after hearing the story. She clearly did not expect to witness such an astonishing sight when they had come to bury the ashes of the wild hare!

More than a thousand little creatures had been killed, their carcasses left on the mountain to the north of Alps Institute. It was obviously a provocation to the Alps Institute, an insane action of revenge!

Brianca took a deep breath to calm herself down.

She almost assumed Mo Fan and his friends had done it to get their revenge at the school when she saw the carcasses. However, she realized that they had been attending lectures at the school for the whole day. They would not have had the time to hunt so many little creatures...

Who could possibly do such a thing? It was clearly a blasphemous act to the Alps Institute, a blatant provocation!

"The culprit has already left," Brianca said.

"Did you guys offend some maniac lately?" Mo Fan asked.

It was obviously an act of vengeance. If it was just a prank, the person would most likely only kill a few dozen of the creatures and left their carcasses outside the school's gate. The culprit must have had some strong hatred toward the Alps Institute to kill so many little creatures and stack their dead bodies in the same place!

"We mostly interact with other schools, we rarely communicate with other factions. Besides, our school is right below the Holy Judgment Court. Even if someone was annoyed by our proud demeanor, they wouldn't dare to do something like this!" Brianca approached the slope.

Mo Fan went up to the dead bodies and said, "I'll cremate these bodies. It's unlikely that we'll find any clues from them. I should just burn them. Otherwise, some students might be terrified when they see it...oh, I'll take a few photos first."

Mo Fan took out his phone and took a few up close photos. He went to a higher spot and took a photo of the entire place.

After he was done, he summoned the Meteor Scarlet.

Mo Fan's control of the Fire Element was quite normal before unleashing his Domain. As he completed the Advanced Spell, a meteorite came down from the sky!

As the Meteor Scarlet flew across the sky under Mo Fan's control, its flames continued to grow from the friction in the air, increasing the spell's area!

Mo Fan's Sky-Flame Funeral would only cover an area of around two hundred square meters in the past. If he cast it with the Meteor Scarlet, the area would expand to around three hundred meters square!

If there was more time available, Mo Fan could cast the Sky-Flame Funeral much higher in the sky. That way, the area of the flames might rise to more than five hundred square meters when the meteorite landed. An enemy would have no chance of moving out of its area of effect!

Mo Fan cast the Sky-Flame Funeral. He summoned the meteorite high up in the sky, so the flames would cover a bigger area.

The Meteor Scarlet landed, melting the snow across the valley immediately. The snow turned into streams flowing to a lower altitude.

There was a ravine at the bottom of the slope. After Mo Fan cast the Sky-Flame Funeral a few times, the water from the melted snow poured into the ravine and turned into a river in the creek. It would eventually reach Lake Geneva.

The sturdy layer of rocks under the snow was revealed as the flames continued to burn. Mo Fan realized how thick the snow was. The ground was around six meters under the snow!

"Did you notice something yesterday?" Brianca asked.

Last night, Mo Fan, Mu Bai, and Zhao Manyan were secretly hunting wild game on the mountain. The patrolling Magas had found them around midnight. It would take the culprit some time to kill so many little creatures and leave their dead bodies at the same place. It was very likely that the culprit was already doing it last night!

"I didn't see anyone... but I remember the hare's back leg was already injured when my Flying Creek Snow Wolf was chasing after it. There was an obvious frozen wound on it," Mo Fan said.

"There is no way the Snowy Mountain Woolen Hare would freeze its own leg. It must have escaped from the culprit, who must be an Ice Mage," Brianca said.

"I think we should let the others know," Mo Fan said.

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Mo Fan and Brianca went back to the school, heading to a castle on the waist of a smaller mountain.

Below the mountain was Faerun River, and another three kilometers further was Faerun Waterfall. Faerun Castle was mainly used for administration and meeting purposes. Since the Alps were in good order most of the time, Faerun Castle was usually vacant. Headmistress Perry, who was around Ceylan's age, was seated in the sky garden in the castle. She was facing Faerun Waterfall while enjoying her tea.

"Why would something like this happen!?" Headmistress Perry flew out of her seat and stared at the photos on Mo Fan's phone.

"We've taken care of the dead bodies. We didn't want the students to see them," Brianca reported.

"That's good to know, you've made the right call," Headmaster Perry frowned. She was struggling to think of anyone who would do such a thing.

"Headmistress, the culprit clearly has a strong hatred toward us. I believe we should seal off the school first to guarantee the students' safety, since they are completely unaware of the danger," Brianca said seriously.

"Seal off the school? That won't be necessary, it might just be a prank, or a natural phenomenon that we have never seen before. After all, it's unlikely that anyone would come and stir up troubles with us," Headmistress Perry said.

"But..."

Headmistress Perry stopped Brianca before she could speak. The headmistress said, "The young Duke of the Casas and the people of the Rhines will be here next week. If we seal the school now, we might lose our best chance to reach a deal with them. You do know that the Casas are our biggest investor in Europe. From what I know, the Casas prefer to invest in the European schools instead… we need sufficient funding to help the new students every year. We have to feed them and provide them with shelter and education. If we do not receive the Casas when they are here, or leave them with a bad impression, we'll have to postpone our plans for years. The rise of the sea level has led to a war against the sea monsters. Many of the students have lost their homes..."

Brianca was left speechless after hearing Headmistress Perry's order.

Alps Institute had no trouble supporting itself. Every student was incredibly talented; they did not have to rely on the renowned clans and factions. However, that was not the reason why the school was established. They were hoping to contribute to society, to show the world what women could do, to distribute the message to other women that they could strive unremittingly, too!

At first, Alps Institute was only an orphanage for girls. Before now, they were still helping the female orphans across the world so they could grow healthily. They would also bring the talented ones to Alps Institute and teach them knowledge and magic.

However, they clearly needed huge funds for that. They had to protect the little girls who would otherwise struggle to survive in society. They would be bullied, scolded, picked on, and forced into labor without any way to make their voices heard!

"Headmistress Perry, I believe we should guarantee our students' safety, even if we are going to take good care of the representatives of the Casas. I have a feeling that the culprit is very powerful. The person must be hiding nearby. If the person can be so cruel to the little creatures, I doubt he or she will go easy on the students..." Brianca said seriously.

"Which is why, I hope that you, as the person-in-charge of the Disciplinary Office, will settle the matter as soon as possible. It would be best if you can find the culprit before the Casas are here. Miss Brianca, the school's safety is in your hands. You should know that many of our teachers and students have left to visit other schools. The only people I can rely on are you, Ceylan, Miya, and the others. I hope you will deal with the culprit as soon as possible," Headmistress Perry said.

Brianca wanted to say something, but Headmistress Perry stopped her once again.

Brianca knew Headmistress Perry was determined not to seal off the school. She was the one that came up with the suggestion to request funding from the Casas, so how could she possibly give up now? If she successfully reached a deal with the Casas, her status in Alps Institute was going to rise significantly.

"Mo Fan, Miss Brianca, please keep it a secret. I will allocate more patrols. I hope you will keep the poor kids that need our help in mind," Perry reminded them.

Brianca nodded stiffly.