Azure light bloomed in the crystal ball, and lines of text appeared:
"A powerful magic has cursed Oz Country. These four different colored fish are transformed from the citizens of Oz Country's four directions.
"The Munchkins of the East liked blue and became blue fish; the Winkies of the West liked yellow and became yellow fish; the Quadlings of the South liked red and became red fish…"
Rhine looked at Oz with a solemn expression:
"A powerful wizard cast a spell, turning your kingdom into this wilderness, mountains, and lakes, and all its people into fish."
Oz's face instantly turned white with fright.
"The entire Oz?"
He had originally thought that only Emerald City was affected, but Rhine told him that the entire kingdom was cursed!
"But Oz Country was originally so big, how could it only be this one wilderness? Everyone was scattered across the land, how could they all be gathered in just this one lake?" Oz's eyes widened.
Rhine sighed:
"This is magic, turning large things into small ones, even if the object of transformation is an entire country. Even if it originally took a long time to travel across the entire country, now there is only this one wilderness and one lake."
Seeing the scene before him, and looking at the pitiful fish in the lake staring expectantly at him and Oz, Rhine narrowed his eyes.
That story replayed in his mind.
"The Four Colored Fish" from "One Thousand and One Nights"!
—In this Arabian story, the Old Witch, who was the villain, was originally the wife of a young king and was discovered having an affair with a black slave. To get revenge on her husband, the Old Witch cast a spell, turning his lower body into stone and all the people of the country into fish!
After being enchanted, space and geography also changed, shrinking a journey that originally took a full year between the capitals of two countries to just a few days!
Aurora was equally dumbfounded, looking around the center of the wilderness, almost not daring to believe her eyes:
"Did Maleficent do this?"
Rhine shook his head:
"No, Maleficent doesn't seem to be skilled in this type of transformation magic.
"I think it might be another Witch Society Witch who helped her."
Rhine recalled the codename of a certain member of the Witch Society—
Middle Eastern Witch!
The Eastern Witch's malicious transformation magic seemed to have been learned from her!
Now, he could confirm:
The true identity of the Witch Society's Middle Eastern Witch is the villain Old Witch from "The Four Colored Fish"!
"Teacher, please help me, save this kingdom." Oz was so anxious he looked like he was about to cry, pleading with Rhine.
Rhine quickly thought about how to solve the current predicament:
"If our enemy is indeed that Old Witch, then there is indeed a solution to the current situation…"
According to the original story, although that Old Witch had powerful magic, enough to transform an entire country and warp thousands of miles of space, she was ultimately flesh and blood.
When caught off guard, any ordinary warrior could kill her with a sword!
On this continent, there were actually quite a few extreme mages whose magic was incredibly powerful but lacked self-preservation abilities.
Not every mage could be like Rhine, with danger perception and teleportation evasion abilities; or like Maleficent, who transformed her physical body into a giant dragon; or like the Old Witch of Ender Kingdom, who could resurrect once after death.
"The only two problems are, I don't know if the Middle Eastern Witch has learned any self-preservation magic through the Witch Society's daily exchanges?"
"And, where is the Old Witch who cast the spell now?"
Just as Rhine was about to try to find the whereabouts of the Middle Eastern Witch, he heard the roar of a giant dragon in the sky.
A fierce wind swept through, dispersing the clouds in the sky.
A Black Dragon as huge as a small mountain swept across the sky, casting a massive shadow on the ground.
Black Witch Maleficent!
King Oz trembled, shrinking behind Rhine.
With a crisp metallic sound, Aurora's sword was unsheathed, guarding Rhine's side.
This terrifying Black Dragon hovered in the air, and a woman's voice came from its mouth: "It seems you've encountered an unprecedented great trouble!"
"What meaning does it have for you to turn Oz Country into this?" Rhine calmly raised his chin.
Now, he no longer feared Maleficent!
The young man spread his arms, releasing the most boundless magic.
Across the entire wilderness, all the trees came alive, pulling out their roots and turning into loyal guardians. The mountains also came alive, human faces appeared on their peaks, and the entire mountain range moved, raising hands made of giant rocks.
In the sky, millions of birds appeared out of nowhere, forming a dense black mass that instantly obscured the firmament. Millions of birds chirped in unison, making the sky and earth tremble.
Seeing such a scene, the Black Dragon's eyes narrowed, evidently not having anticipated this. Her voice held a hint of malice and resentment:
"I never thought that in such a short time, your magic has grown even stronger. That night more than 10 years ago, I should have killed you!"
The Black Dragon spoke loudly from the sky to those below:
"I used a mirror as a medium to allow the Witch Society's Middle Eastern Witch to cast a spell from a distance, transforming this kingdom.
"Unless she herself willingly undoes it, no one can lift this curse. Not even killing her will work!
"You surely don't want to see this kingdom forever cursed, and the people of the entire country forever turned into fish, do you?"
Under Aurora and Rhine's slightly surprised gazes, Maleficent transformed back into human form, floating in the air, and pulled out a strand of black hair from behind her back:
"If you refuse my upcoming demand, I will remotely curse and kill that Middle Eastern Witch. If the caster dies, Oz Country will never be able to return to its original state."
Aurora was startled, and Rhine's calm expression also shifted slightly.
Maleficent was so malicious that to threaten them, she was actually prepared to sacrifice the life of a colleague!
Aurora stared vigilantly at the sky: "What do you want to threaten us to do?"
Maleficent, transformed back into a giant dragon, looked at Aurora, letting out a melodious laugh, her cold tone now laced with more malice:
"My beautiful little princess, what threat are you speaking of? I am clearly helping you, giving you a chance to prove yourself!
"Don't you want to kill me with your own hands?
"Now, I give you this chance!
"Pick up your sword and have a fair one-on-one duel with me!"
The Black Dragon glanced at Rhine beside her again, and said coldly:
"That annoying wizard is not allowed to interfere!"
So that's it, Maleficent is holding the entire country hostage, wanting to fight me one-on-one. She's confident she won't lose to me in a one-on-one duel? Aurora understood her intention and immediately hesitated.
The Black Dragon let out a wild laugh:
"How about it?
"My dear little princess. This is your chance to personally slay me and lift the Rose Kingdom's curse!
"Do you want to miss such an opportunity?
"Or, do you only dare to wield your sword against me when you're leaning on your teacher?"
Aurora snorted coldly.
She clearly knew the other party was provoking her, but she didn't know how to refute effectively.
Oz saw Aurora's hesitation and quickly urged: "No, you can't. That evil Old Witch is definitely lying to you, don't agree to her terms!"
Aurora looked at Rhine beside her with slight hesitation, waiting for her teacher to say, "Aurora, don't act impulsively, don't believe Maleficent, refuse this duel."
"Aurora, I think you can consider Maleficent's request."
Rhine's answer greatly surprised Aurora.
Teacher, no way?
Shouldn't you be dissuading me?
"Aurora, this is indeed an opportunity, a chance to personally slay Maleficent. Back then, in the sea between the White Kingdom and the summer Kingdom, when I was about to defeat Maleficent, I felt a slight regret, because the person who should have killed her with her own hands was you."
Rhine's tone was calm, as if it was natural for Aurora to win.
"But…" Aurora hesitated.
She had no confidence in defeating Maleficent, who had transformed into a giant dragon, on her own.
But the teacher must have his own deep meaning in saying this!
…
Note: The conditions for lifting different curses vary. The curse on the Rose Kingdom is "kill the caster," while the curse of the Four Colored Fish is "the caster willingly undoes it." Killing the caster is useless.