Chapter 69 -69-Claiming the Codex of Mage and Placing the Ruins
As the dust and smoke hanging over the city slowly began to clear, the survivors finally saw it—
an enormous serpent’s head, vast as a sun or moon suspended high above the heavens, staring coldly into the city below.
To be precise, it was staring at the city’s only surviving Tower of Mage.
The tower’s outer walls were covered in layers of flickering protective runes, bright and dim in alternating waves.
That was exactly why it had managed to survive the Wyrmcoil Rage just now.
At that moment, a large number of mage NPCs had gathered at the top of the tower.
And the Codex of Mage sat on the elevated platform right behind them.
"You vile beast, what are you trying to do?!"
At the top of the tower, the current chief professor of Scholars’ City slammed his staff heavily against the ground and shouted in fury.
He was an old man, with hair and beard white as snow, his face layered with deep wrinkles.
Clearly, he had lived for an extremely long time.
Staring at the Giant Python, he roared in outrage, "I command you to restore every building in this city at once!
And then immediately retreat back to the bottom of the sea!
If you refuse, I will make you suffer the torment of the forbidden spell once again!"
In the past, Void Serpent would have recoiled in fear and fled back into the depths without hesitation.
But now, it had already become John’s Contract Beast.
The so-called forbidden spell could no longer affect it in the slightest.
Void Serpent immediately let out a cold laugh. "Then go ahead and try. I’d like to see just how much power your forbidden spell still has compared to back then."
The chief professor was so angry his face turned livid. "Arrogant! Have you forgotten the lesson you learned before?
Are you truly not afraid that I will awaken the founding headmaster of Scholars’ City right this moment and have him unleash the forbidden spell to punish you?"
Every word was steeped in naked threat.
And yet Void Serpent still showed not the slightest trace of fear.
If anything, there was even a hint of mockery in its eyes.
"Then wake him up and see," it sneered.
"Let’s find out whether that old fossil will answer you at all."
"You court death."
The chief professor was so enraged that he stopped wasting words altogether.
At once, he began casting an awakening spell, attempting to summon the founding headmaster.
But even after activating it several times in succession, not a single figure emerged from within the tower.
The chief professor’s expression shifted slightly.
"What’s going on?"
Thud!
Just as the gathered mages were wavering in shock and uncertainty, a severed head suddenly dropped from the sky and landed right in front of them.
The instant they got a clear look at it, the entire group nearly lost their souls in terror.
That head belonged to the founding headmaster.
For some unknown reason, it had appeared here in this place—
and its face still wore the frozen expression of horror it had borne at the moment of death.
"It’s the headmaster!"
"Why is the headmaster’s head here?!"
"Who killed him? Damn it!"
The mages were both horrified and enraged, frantically searching in all directions for the murderer’s trace.
"No need to look. Just raise your heads."
Only then did a calm, indifferent voice ring out above them.
The chief professor and the others jerked their heads upward.
There they saw John, floating in midair and looking down at them from above.
John casually rolled his neck, then pointed at the severed head on the ground and said with a mocking smile, "Is this the founding headmaster you were talking about?
He hid himself pretty well. Took me quite a while to track him down."
"You... you..."
The moment he saw John’s dragon wings spread behind him, the chief professor completely broke down.
He had never imagined that the founding headmaster would die so abruptly, so miserably, and without even the slightest fanfare.
"You have two choices now," John said coldly, looking down at them from above. "Either get out immediately, or die."
The people of Scholars’ City had always been arms dealers by nature.
Merchants valued profit above all else.
Now that they saw there was no longer even the slightest chance of turning the situation around, preserving their lives naturally became the top priority.
One after another, the mages hurriedly activated their spells and fled the scene.
As for them, John could not be bothered to personally make a move.
After all, the city outside was already encircled by Void Serpent.
Whether they could escape alive from its grasp would depend entirely on their own luck and ability.
And as for John’s next objective—
naturally, it was the Mage class book inside the Tower of Mage.
With a flash, John’s figure vanished and instantly reappeared atop the tower’s elevated platform.
He lightly stomped his foot.
The platform instantly shattered into pieces.
And from within, a book radiating violet magical light emerged, suspended in midair—
the Codex of Mage.
[You have obtained "Codex of Mage" (Class Advancement Quest item)]
"So it really is the Codex of Mage!"
John’s eyes lit up with delight as he stared at the book in his hand.
He had only just received the Class Advancement Quest, and yet he had already acquired the first codex so quickly.
He immediately examined the item’s attributes.
[Codex of Mage] (Quest Item)
[Rank]: None
[Description]: After use, you may wield all Mage-class skills, talents, and equipment, and gain a 200% amplification.
...
After reading it, John decisively chose to use it.
The Codex of Mage instantly transformed into a stream of light and merged into his body.
A system notification rang in his ears.
[You have awakened the Mage Class!]
John immediately opened his status panel.
Sure enough, under the class section, the words [Mage] had now appeared.
"Excellent. With this class, I’ll finally be able to use a lot of talents and skills."
John smiled faintly, thoroughly satisfied.
After that, he closed the panel and directly recalled his Contract Beast, Void Serpent, back into pet space.
Under the terrified gazes of Scholars’ City’s surviving NPCs, John activated his Pass Permit and was instantly transmitted back to Zone 5 — Overlord City.
Only after he was gone did the remaining NPCs finally let out long breaths of relief and begin discussing what had just happened, their faces still full of lingering fear.
"That man just now... he was terrifying!"
"Our Codex of Mage was taken, and even our founder is dead.
That man... he’s practically a demon!"
"Exactly. It’s just a pity that we were completely powerless against him!"
"If only we had the strength to deal with that demon..."
From this day forward, the history of Scholars’ City would gain a new legend—
the legend of John.
...
Overlord City, City Lord Mansion.
John’s figure reappeared within the mansion through spatial transfer.
The moment he returned, he took out the Worldfall Ruins Token.
[Do you wish to use Worldfall Ruins Token: Dragonkin Isle?]
"Use it!"
At once, a gigantic map materialized before him.
With a single thought, he could place Dragonkin Isle anywhere on a blank section of the map.
John looked it over carefully.
Aside from the main city region, every other zone of open airspace could accommodate Dragonkin Isle.
However, due to the island’s unique nature, no matter where it was placed, players would still need flying tools or flight abilities in order to reach it.
So John spent some time studying the placement options.
Only then did he discover that Dragonkin Isle could actually be placed beside a cliff as well.
If it were suspended high enough near a cliff face, it could be level with the land itself.
That way, players would not need flying mounts, tools, or skills to successfully reach the island and grind monsters there.
With that in mind, he selected a spot beside the nearest mountain cliff.
Then he settled Dragonkin Isle into position there.
[You have successfully placed the ruins: Dragonkin Isle!]
[Please set entry requirements.]
Just like the dungeon he had placed earlier, John set it so that only players from Overlord Guild would be allowed to enter.
At the same time, he also specifically added another rule:
each time a player entered, half of all materials and equipment obtained inside would be turned over to Overlord Guild.
In addition, each player would only have a maximum of three entry attempts per day.
That way, Dragonkin Isle would not end up overcrowded with players and stripped of its resources too quickly.
At the same time, it would also massively enrich the public treasury of Overlord Guild.