Evolution game, nothing more than that!

"My astrological divination technique, more accurately called 'water divination', doesn't involve observing the actual starry sky. Instead, I foresee various possibilities for the future in the immaterial world by observing the false reflections of the starry sky in water."

"Instead of looking at the real starry sky, I'm looking at the reflection of a fake starry sky..."

Yi Shen nodded, thoughtfully.

That's right. If you look at the real sky when stargazing, what you see is actually just the starlight from the material world. It is hard to imagine that various celestial bodies tens of millions of kilometers or even tens of millions of light-years away have anything to do with the "future" and "fate" of a group of bipedal upright mammals on a small rocky planet.

It was the reflection in the mirror. After hearing about the mirror magic used by another wizard that Yamasaki An and Sakurajima Mai had talked about, he realized that in this magical world, the world in the mirror was something completely different from the material world, and might follow another set of laws, which might contain the future and destiny of all beings in the material world.

Thoughts were flying in his mind, and in front of Yi Shen's eyes, Merlin also began to move.

He raised his staff and chanted a spell that was difficult to understand and even remember, while walking in circles around the basin, tapping the water surface with his staff as he walked.

In Yi Shen's elemental vision, he saw that Merlin's magic power gradually became active. After being adjusted by the staff and spells, it fell into the basin of water little by little, but it did not merge into the basin of clear water. Instead, it merged into the layer of "reflected starry sky" on the surface of the clear water.

Yes, it sounds incredible. The essence of the mirror is actually a visual illusion caused by the reflection of light. It does not have any entity itself. It is a purely two-dimensional object with no thickness like a shadow.

But this existence, which is close to being conceptual, seems to be a real substance, carrying Merlin's enormous magic.

The infusion of these magical powers also caused this false starry sky to begin to undergo some strange changes.

It seemed to come alive.

It is not "alive" in the sense of having life, but it has begun to change and evolve rapidly from a relatively static state. The reflected starry sky has begun to rotate at a speed thousands of times faster than the real starry sky, and finally turned into a vortex of starlight.

And in this vortex, a strange aura that Yi Shen had never felt before gradually emanated.

He didn't need anyone to tell him, he instinctively understood that this was the breath of "time".

Merlin's magical magic actually condensed the abstract concept of "time" into an aura that can be perceived by people!

However, what Yi Shen saw was just the appearance within the appearance, the fur within the fur.

Merlin, the caster of the spell, was now in a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness.

As a similarly illusory existence, his dreams are synchronized with the reflection in the mirror, and his spirit is walking in this dream world permeated with the breath of "time", capturing the scenes of the future among the rapidly changing fleeting moments.

Chapter 195: Predicting the Battle, Morgan's Changes

It can be said that Merlin's prophetic magic does not seem complicated.

The only two keys are his magical spell that speeds up the flow of time in the mirror's reflection, and his ability as a kalashtar to control his own dreams.

The former is the foundation of this magic that can truly foresee the future, while the latter ensures that Merlin can maintain his own identity in this dream future and not get lost in it.

However, these two abilities actually come from Merlin's bloodline, inherited from his incubus father who has never been seen, especially that spell. Although Merlin knows that this spell can be used for divination, he cannot decipher the meaning of these spells at all, let alone teach them to others.

It was no wonder that he hadn't been able to explain the key points of divination to Yi Shen before, because even he himself was only half-understanding, so how could he teach others?

After wandering in the dream of the future for an unknown amount of time, when the night faded and the sky gradually brightened, Merlin finally woke up from divination.

"How about it, have you seen anything important in the future?"

Yi Shen, who had been watching all night, asked.

“I did see some…”

Merlin wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tired face and said:

"Although I still cannot see the future of that dragon, I see what the wizards under Vortigern intend to do."

"Oh? What are they going to do?"

Yi Shen raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"...They intend to perform an unprecedented strategic magic, dragging both warring armies into the mirror world."

Merlin replied.

As he spoke, he looked at Yi Shen with a special look.

Although he also could not see the figures of Yi Shen and the other two in the prophecy, he could understand why Futigeng did this.

Obviously, after the battle in the mine, because of the loss of Pasifa, the master of labyrinth magic, and seeing that Mai Sakurajima also had the ability to defeat the "dragon", for Vortigern's side, the tactic of isolating Yi Shen from the battlefield alone and then using the dragon to destroy Camelot's manpower was no longer feasible.

But this does not mean that Vortigern is helpless - since he cannot eliminate Yi Shen alone, why not isolate Camelot's army in another battlefield instead?

Anyway, Vortigern's strategic goal is just to separate Yi Shen and his two companions who have the power to shoot down the dragon from Camelot's army, so it doesn't matter which side he starts from.

After being dragged into the mirror world, even though Merlin could not see the dragon's existence, he could imagine that the dragon had probably been waiting there for a long time. Without Yi Shen and the others to stop it, it could easily destroy Camelot's army.

As for Yi Shen and the other two who were able to fight against the dragon, they would be shut out of the mirror world and could only watch it all happen - no, they couldn't even see anything and could only stare blankly at the deserted wilderness.

"I see, is this what Vortigern was planning..."

In the palace, after listening to Merlin's divination results, Arthur nodded thoughtfully.

Although there are many gaps in this prophecy due to the unpredictability of Yi Shen and his two companions and the dragon, the conclusion drawn through reasoning and analysis of the existing intelligence is still relatively reliable.

Arthur believed that if he were Vortigern, he would indeed make the same decision when faced with an unfavorable situation in terms of high-end combat power.

"Thank you for your hard work, Merlin."

King Arthur first said something soothing, then asked:

"Have you come up with any solution?"

"Solution……"

Merlin pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to the Yi Shen trio.

"I'm afraid I'll need your help this time."

Yi Shen and the other two looked at each other, thought for a moment, and finally nodded in unison:

"No problem, just tell us what you want us to do for you!"

"Then, you need to..."

Merlin's voice gradually lowered as he proposed his plan.

"Is that so? Well... well, that's certainly one way to do it."

Yi Shen and the two girls confirmed with each other, nodded, and agreed with Merlin's plan.

Finally, after getting the approval of Arthur who was listening, the plan was finalized.

……

A few days later, the army finally completed its assembly and preparation and was about to set out.

Before setting out on the expedition, King Arthur delivered an impassioned speech on the city wall to the army assembled below to boost morale.

For those illiterate peasant soldiers who dig in the soil all day long, such speeches are of course useless.

They did not care about the king's dignity, nor did they know what chivalry was. They were just afraid of the lord's whip and sword and had to come to serve.

But their will was actually irrelevant, and Arthur's real speech was not to them, but to the knights who led the team.

In this world and this era, knights are the true backbone and mainstay of an army. As long as the morale of the knights is inspired, the morale of the entire army will not be much worse.

For those knights who are eager to achieve great things, any reason for starting a war is acceptable. As long as there are battles to fight, achievements to be made, and spoils to be seized, they will be happy to hear about war.

Not to mention, this time they had a revenge war with legitimate reasons - not only the attack on the mine, but also the war more than a month ago. Although the final result of both times was that Camelot won, as the party that took the initiative to provoke, Vortigern must pay the price!

Amidst the shouts of "Camelot will win!" and "The King of Knights will win!", King Arthur mounted his horse, drew his sword and swung it forward. The army then set out. Thousands of soldiers and horses formed a not very neat formation and slowly headed north amid the noise.

This time, not only Yi Shen and the other two will be traveling together, but Merlin will also be accompanying them.

After all, Yi Shen and the other two don't understand mirror magic. If they want to fight against it or even crack it, they still have to rely on Merlin, the master of magic, to take action personally.

The only thing that worries Merlin is whether Morgan will cause trouble in the palace after he leaves.

He couldn't help but look back and glance at the city wall.

There, Queen Guinevere was gazing at the army setting out for battle, with Morgan, dressed in black, standing beside her.

The latter watched Merlin and the others go away, his mind racing with thoughts.

Just a day ago, Yi Shen took the initiative to find her and told her that after this battle, if Futigeng surrendered, he would leave with his two companions.

This surprised Morgan greatly.

Could it be that the splendor and wealth of Camelot, as well as this beautiful witch, could not make the other party linger?

Why are you leaving in such a hurry?

Yi Shen only gave her one answer - whether it was wealth, glory, or beauty, they were all fleeting in the long river of time, only power was eternal, and in Camelot, he had already gotten what he wanted, and there was no reason to stay any longer.

"Seeking power, huh? Just wait!"

Feeling deeply frustrated, Morgan made up his mind to teach Yi Shen a profound lesson.

Don't you want to pursue power? Then I will defeat you ruthlessly on the path you pursue!

Morgan's original dissatisfaction and resentment towards Arthur were now mostly transferred to Yi Shen. I wonder what impact this seemingly insignificant change will have on the future of this world?

Chapter 196: Prepare for war, the flames of war are about to begin

Not to mention Morgan's change of mood, Vortigern couldn't help but frown after learning the news that King Arthur had declared war on him.

"You actually declared war on me directly, humph!"

He immediately summoned two wizards, Fogg and Mary.

Although the previous operation resulted in the loss of Pasifa, a crucial core, they at least brought the dragon back intact. Therefore, Vortigern did not punish them, but instead gave them generous rewards.

But the information they brought back also gave Vortigern a headache.

It turns out that there is not only one wizard in Camelot who can fight with dragons, but also another witch who possesses this level of power. Even in the battle just now, the dragon was at a clear disadvantage when facing these two wizards and almost lost its life.

It seems that if we want to defeat Camelot, we must find another way!

Throwing the original plan, which had lost its feasibility, into the trash can, Vortigern discussed a new battle plan with the two wizards.

Just as Merlin had deduced from the prophecy, after some discussion, they finally came up with a plan to have the two wizards cast a spell together, and then swallow the armies of both sides except Yi Shen and others into the mirror world, and finally have the dragon lurking in the mirror world to destroy the other side's manpower.

It wasn't a very complicated plan; the key lay in whether the two wizards could pull so many people into the mirror world, and whether the dragon was willing to cooperate.

Regarding the former, Fogg and Mary nodded reluctantly after discussing with each other. If they tried their best, they should be able to achieve the effect that Vortigern wanted.

As for the latter, when Vortigern found the rescued dragon and told it the plan, the latter actually agreed immediately and even took the initiative to mention that this action would not be counted in Vortigern's remaining summons, and it was its own initiative to help.

After hearing the news, Vortigern was surprised and happy.

The cunning and stingy old dragon has changed his nature. Is it possible that the sun is rising from the west today?

This was his first reaction.

But then he remembered that the dragon had suffered more than once at the hands of the wizards in Camelot. With its stingy nature, it would certainly not swallow this humiliation. Now that it had a chance to retaliate, it naturally would not refuse.

In a way, Futigeng even had to thank Yi Shen and the others. If it weren't for their two beatings, the dragon would not have been able to cooperate as it is now!

After confirming the dragon's intentions, Vortigern immediately began preparing to fight the enemy.

He also issued a call to arms, ordering lords from all sides to send their armies to fight Camelot.

Although the lords under his command had suffered heavy losses in previous defeats, and asking them to serve in the army would undoubtedly cause great dissatisfaction, under the threat of the dragon used by Vortigern, the lords still sent out the army reluctantly.

Groups of hundreds or even dozens of troops followed one knight after another to the royal city of Vortigern.

Together with the newly recruited barbarian mercenaries of Vortigern, another army of thousands of people gradually took shape.

Of course, because the knights and barbarian warriors who died in the last battle were the strongest among the territories and tribes, the army gathered this time was ultimately several levels inferior to the previous army in terms of combat effectiveness.

Especially the armies sent by local lords, from knights to retainers to the lowest-level peasant soldiers, all had generally low morale - after all, it could be said that none of the people who went to the last expedition came back. With such a bloody example in front of them, who would have much morale?

But Vortigern didn't care about that.

For him at this time, the army composed of these ordinary people and ordinary knights did not need to have strong combat effectiveness, as long as they could delay the army of Camelot for a short period of time.

——In a sense, they are like filler babies in later armies, existing only to enrich the battlefield.

The real killer is Vortigern's dragon and the two wizards. As long as they successfully implement the plan and let the dragon launch an attack in the mirror world, everything will no longer be a problem!

With full confidence, Vortigern ordered his army to set up camp under the royal city and wait for the arrival of the Camelot army.

Logically speaking, as the ruler of a country, Vortigern should have taken the initiative to lead his army to attack and keep the enemy out of the country, or at least block the enemy near the border, but he did not do so.

In his opinion, although taking the initiative to attack could stop the enemy halfway, it would also consume the physical strength of his own soldiers and lose the advantage of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, which he did not want.

As for how much damage would be caused to the territories along the way and how many people would be affected if the enemy was allowed to advance into his territory, that was not something that Vortigern cared about.

——To do big things, there are always some trade-offs and sacrifices. For his grand plan to wipe out Camelot's vitality in one fell swoop, let those affected subjects suffer for a while!