Under Monroe's persistent explanation, Alvis nodded in agreement. Such powerful destruction, comparable to a Heavenly Disaster, was beyond even his own capabilities — a mere Wizard could not possibly unleash such potent magic!
However, there were some aspects that did not make sense if it were indeed a Heavenly Disaster.
Within the empire, common Heavenly Disasters could generally be classified as earthquakes, thunderstorms, hurricanes, droughts, floods, and meteorite falls…
The first few types clearly did not match; only the scenario of meteorite falls bore some resemblance, but he had questioned the imperial soldiers who had fled back.
It was night time; if meteorites had fallen from the sky, they should have been distinctly visible!
"I suspect that this might be the scene of an underground volcanic eruption!" Monroe conjectured.
Over this period, in his effort to gather intelligence, he had reviewed all the past Magic Newspapers, keenly noting that several months earlier the Magic Star had published a very important paper — "On the Causes of Earthquakes — The Effects of Continental Plates and Magma Activity Underneath the Earth"!
Although Monroe did not fully understand it, the paper mentioned a type of Heavenly Disaster known as volcanic eruption.
It was said to be caused by the movement of the Earth's crust, where magma from the Hell Abyss flowed out through fissures in the ground surface, resulting in a terrifying disaster that could turn tens of miles around into a lava hell.
"It's quite possible!" Alvis muttered thoughtfully.
In recent times, those Wizards, despite having the upper hand, still hadn't ventured out, a phenomenon that indeed puzzled him.
If Monroe's conjecture were true, then it suddenly made sense — the enemies were merely bluffing to buy time to develop more war machines…
At this thought, Alvis felt it was necessary to initiate a probing attack to determine the real situation of the enemy.
Seeing that Pope Alvis agreed with his view, Monroe was greatly encouraged and quickly disclosed another important piece of intelligence, which was a vulnerability in the Wizards' defense line!
It must be said that the council's method of using numerous skyships as eyes to monitor the entire kingdom was extremely troublesome, making large-scale unnoticed intrusions nearly impossible.
However, there was an exception!
That was the region of death outside Fire Oil City!
This area was utterly unguarded, with only a few airships passing by from afar. One could evade the Wizards' detection at night by utilizing both the darkness and Divine Arts for cover.
"But I have heard that this region of death possesses radiation that not even formal Wizards can withstand, and even after several months, it has not completely dissipated," Pope Alvis said, frowning.
"That point was also mentioned in the paper…" Monroe rushed to explain, during the volcanic eruption, a large amount of toxic gases would be emitted, accumulating in the airspace to form a terrifying dust cloud. Sometimes, it could even last for months, which could be the radiation mentioned by the Wizards!
The method of handling it was also available; it required wearing a face mask or protective goggles to shield the fragile eyes and a wet cloth over the mouth and nose, among other things…
Of course, if one ventured too deep or stayed too long, even with protection, serious damage to the body was inevitable.
As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is often the safest, Alvis was naturally aware of this concept.
The enemies would never expect them to launch an attack from this location!
"You have done well, Monroe, although there was a problem with the last plan, it's not entirely your fault…" Alvis spoke reassuringly, praising Monroe's ability to gather and analyze intelligence, and asked him to continue monitoring the internal situation of the kingdom.
The three-minute time limit soon expired, and after ending the communication, Alvis did not rush to issue an order but turned to look at Saint Randall beside him.
"What do you think of Monroe's guess, how credible do you find it?"
"I don't believe those Wizards have the capability to wield such formidable magic," Saint Randall stated decisively, yet such a significant matter, even with a slight possibility, must be considered; otherwise, a misjudgment could lead to unimaginable consequences.
So, pausing briefly, Randall continued, "Did not the Holy Maiden confront this so-called Big Nuclear Explosion Technique herself? She should know best."
The fastest, most accurate method was naturally to ask!
Pope Alvis remained silent for a while and did not reply.
"Or is it that the Holy Maiden is not currently in the Holy City?" Randall immediately realized this point, his face showing some displeasure.
Such important news, and Alvis had not divulged a bit to him and had just let the Lord's Avatar leave the protection of the Holy City.
It was known that the Lord had just changed its host body, and how much power it could exert was questionable…
"The Holy Maiden has her own plans which neither you nor I can interfere with. We just need to do our part, and that is enough!" Alvis spoke dispassionately, stopping Randall from further inquiry and swiftly decided.
"Give the command, let Tessis, stationed at the empire's border, lead a team to probe whether those Wizards are merely bluffing or not."
Randall opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but eventually, he nodded. "I understand!"