Chapter 49: The Moon Shadow Circus Traveling the World

Chapter 49: The Moon Shadow Circus Traveling the World

Magician Harold gave a slight bow. “My apologies!”

He saw the magician drape the curtain over the Magician’s Box.

And when the magician removed that curtain, the scene inside the Magician’s Box had become different from before.

The buildings of Blackhorn Alley were still inside the box, but eerily, right in the middle of Blackhorn Alley, a noisy circus and many large wagons had appeared.

Even more eerie was that around the circus, there were many puppet spectators, and the Faceless One was standing in the circus watching the show with great interest.

He looked east and west, touched this and that, constantly praising and getting very excited.

Everything looked as if several hours had passed during the time the curtain was put on and taken off. And during those hours, a circus had come from afar and set up its tents in the center of Blackhorn Alley.

Looking at that circus, Harold’s eyes couldn’t help but reveal a fascinated expression.

In the cages of this circus, many Magical Creatures were kept, and all the circus workers were ‘living’ puppets—or rather, thirty mechanical spirits!

Each of these mechanical spirits was priceless and incredibly intricate. Their creator must certainly have been a super grand alchemist!

They were Witches, also powerful warriors, Harold’s creations, and also Harold’s companions.

They could cast Magic, engage in battle, and perform circus tricks, and their bodies were indestructible, unafraid of magical attacks—just like dragons.

These thirty puppets could physically tear apart a giant dragon, and when they commanded those Magical Creatures, they naturally became even more powerful.

Between the magician’s fingers, they were like living beings; they could talk, perform, and tell jokes. They accompanied the magician, following the circus around the world on tour.

In the Muggle World, they met all kinds of people together and experienced many stories. In these stories, the magician’s puppets gradually seemed to develop emotions like joy and sorrow.

But they were still missing something.

Until they met a painter.

The stories experienced by the Moon Shadow Circus resonated in the heart of this great artist. And in the magician’s puppet show performances, the artist saw their souls.

“Let me make a painting for you!”

From then on, the magician’s puppet shows gained life, and his ‘Marionettes’ gained souls—inside those Marionettes, all of Harold’s creations would become living people with souls!

“Sir, don’t believe his words! Those puppets are all Wizard souls stuffed inside by this madman!” Yingling shouted, trembling. “If you lose, we will end up the same…”

Harold just gave a contemptuous smile at Yingling’s words and didn’t bother to explain.

[Just as Yingling said, this magician had indeed done many such things, and many Wizards believed that both the puppets and the mechanical spirits were originally living people—this madman extracted the souls of the interesting people he met and stuffed them into his puppets!]

[Of course, a more important reason was that pure-blood Wizards did not believe there could be such a terrifying painter in this world, and even more could not believe that painter was a Muggle—just like many years ago when people didn’t believe a Muggle could become a terrifying Magician in this world.]

Anyway, in this Moon Shadow Circus, all that was missing now was a dragon with a story and treasure.

An interesting clown Faceless One would also do.

“Sir, I will arrange a job for you in the circus. I’ve decided, I’ll have you perform as a trapeze artist in the future—you and Miss Yingling each have your own strengths. Your agility seems very impressive. Her legs are especially long, suitable for pedaling a tricycle.”

Yingling nearly fainted upon hearing this.

Then, Harold suddenly straightened his collar and tie, and bowed slightly to the nonexistent audience all around.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to begin!”

With that, Harold threw away the Wand in his hand. He wiped his hands with that golden silk handkerchief—obviously, the shameless fanboy Lufield had been admiring and imitating this unattainable superstar.

The magician threw away the golden silk handkerchief, extended his hands, and began moving his ten fingers above the Magician’s Box. The Crystal Array on the Magician’s Box also began to spin violently.

Suddenly, all the puppets and mechanical spirits in the entire Blackhorn Alley opened their eyes and started moving!

Just like living people!

They suddenly possessed Mana and thoughts, becoming Witches with extraordinary skills!

The circus performance seemed to have begun!

Seeing this, Yingling suddenly remembered a legend—’Moon Shadow Circus’!

Legend had it that this was a circus that often appeared in the Muggle World. This circus sold many unimaginable or very interesting Artifacts, and this circus could also fulfill any wish of a wisher.

Yes, a powerful Wizard like Harold, who had both money and Strength, could indeed, to some extent, fulfill any wish of a Muggle!

The price was just a story that could move the heart. Or rather, a story that could move Harold enough for him to offer help.

So, this circus belonged to Harold.

Yingling suddenly understood why Harold was so pursued by the Ministry of Magic, who wished to lock him away forever in the Hexagon Magic Prison—because he was openly opposing the Ministry of Magic.

He not only used Magic in the Muggle World, but he was also teaching Magic to Muggles!

But what the Muggles didn’t know was that the circus performances were not magic tricks at all, but real Magic! The things the magician taught them were the same.

As for the animals in the circus and those thirty mechanical spirits, they weren’t actors in costumes, but real Magical Creatures and mechanical spirits with real life!

Yingling suddenly felt, how lucky those Muggles who had seen the Moon Shadow Circus must have been!

Those Muggles had the chance to see Magical Creatures and Artifacts that even many Wizards had never seen, and hear fantasy stories no one had ever heard—and these stories were all real!

Even more unimaginable was that Harold would give the Artifacts he created to Muggles! And any Artifact personally created by Harold, no matter what it was, was priceless in the Wizarding World!

But those Muggles simply regarded those Artifacts as interesting magic props—the magician didn’t care at all about this and was quite satisfied.

Because he liked hearing stories, and he liked applause and smiles.

The bursts of applause and cheers erupting from the Magician’s Box interrupted Yingling’s thoughts.

Yingling looked down at the Magician’s Box below, and her expression couldn’t help turning strange.

She had thought the magician would manipulate the thousands of puppets and mechanical spirits with Wizard blood in the Magician’s Box to attack the Faceless One—this was a whole Wizard regiment!

Combined with Harold’s terrifying Magic like ‘Reenactment’ and ‘Magician’s Trick’, he could command this Wizard regiment to wage war against a Wizard academy.

No one could fight a Wizard regiment alone!

Yet Harold did not do this. Under his Magic, although the puppets all seemed to come to life, they did not attack. Instead, they gathered around the circus like spectators, clapping and cheering. As for the most powerful mechanical spirits, they were putting on a show for the Faceless One!

Purely performing circus acts!

Wonderful acts followed one after another, but the bloody fight scene Yingling expected never appeared.

The Faceless One watched happily, the magician performed happily, and Yingling suddenly felt utterly confused.

What was wrong with this world? Why did powerful Wizards all seem a bit… not quite normal?

Just then, both the Faceless One and the magician suddenly became completely focused. The performance had now reached its final act—the Metamorphosis.

The circus employees (the mechanical spirits) carried out from backstage a cage about the size of a small hotel room. After removing the curtain covering it, one could see that inside this cage was a scarecrow wearing a tailcoat and a top hat.

And this scarecrow was also wearing the magic shackles of the Hexagon Magic Prison.

Amid the magician’s incantations, the scarecrow’s appearance was changing, and the mechanical spirits placed a curtain over the cage.

Yingling’s pupils contracted sharply. She suddenly understood what the magician was going to do!

She recognized that ‘cage’!

No wonder the Hexagon Magic Prison had increased the bounty on Harold!

This madman!

When he escaped last time, not only did he perform a great ‘Escape Room’ act right in front of the warden ‘the Lantern-bearing Thousand-Faced Death God’ Polst, but he also casually stole the entire cell room from the lowest level of the Hexagon Magic Prison!

Most importantly, this Magician’s Box was itself a terrifying Secret Realm maze!

Add this prison cell to that…

He wanted to capture the Faceless One alive! And the Faceless One seemed to be waiting to be captured alive!

Oh my!

These two lunatics!

“Fool! Stop watching and run!”

Yingling shouted. She knew that when the scarecrow in the cage turned into the Faceless One, this ‘Metamorphosis’ would be complete.

‘Metamorphosis’—the cursed one, no matter where they were, would be transformed into the magician’s cage! And they would also be dressed in the scarecrow’s clothes—including the magic shackles of the Hexagon Magic Prison!

No matter what kind of Wizard, once shackled by those, they would become a Muggle without Mana. Then, under the magician’s terrifying Magic, they would gradually turn into a puppet clown.

But that Faceless One was still watching the circus like a fool, clapping!

“Run! Run!” Yingling jumped hard with her long legs, trying to attract the Faceless One’s attention.

Suddenly, a rose appeared in Yingling’s mouth. Under Harold’s powerful Magic Spell, she could only bite the rose and couldn’t speak.

It’s over! It’s all over now! Wah wah wah…

I’m going to be pedaling a tricycle and performing a two-man act with the Faceless One!