Unlike the outer city, the streets and city layout of the inner city finally looked somewhat normal.
This kind of "normal" was based on the aesthetics of Link and the others.
From Sky City's own perspective, however, the inner city should be described as more retro, more similar to an ordinary Muggle city in the outside world.
The change in architectural style was somewhat difficult for Newland and the others to understand.
Because in their view, the cyberpunk-style city of the outer city was clearly more eye-catching and more novel.
However, this was understandable.
After all, this was simply what Newland and the others saw from the perspective of surface wizards.
Perhaps in the eyes of the people of the celestial realm, this kind of "retro" architecture like that in the inner city was the true symbol of luxury and nobility.
After all, unless they happened to encounter some opportunity, it had already become difficult for the new generation of celestial people to come into contact with genuine buildings from the lower world.
Of course, the "retro" style of the inner city did not mean that it was a complete reproduction of Muggle cities.
At the very least, the inner city still had Sky City-exclusive facilities such as aerial lightways, giant neon advertising signs, and giant holographic projections.
And in terms of appearance, even these high-tech objects in the inner city were much more advanced than those in the outer city.
Unfortunately, after entering the inner city, Link and the others no longer had the sightseeing mentality they had when they were in the outer city.
The battle here was currently raging.
The Sky City Defense Force in the inner city was clearly more capable than the forces in the outer city by more than one level, and the defensive fortifications were also much more densely distributed. This allowed the Sky City Defense Force to intercept the Auror coalition with greater speed and force.
At the same time, the Auror coalition was also restricted by Link's two previous orders: "Preserve as many of Sky City's facilities as possible" and "Preserve your own lives as much as possible."
This directly caused the Auror coalition's advance to become extremely slow after entering the inner city.
Krell and Newland were both extremely anxious and dissatisfied with this situation.
On one hand, they felt that the main forces of the Ying Kingdom Ministry of Magic were advancing so slowly that it was an insult to the Ying Kingdom Ministry of Magic. On the other hand, they were worried that under the current circumstances, those impatient commanders might suddenly advance recklessly and cause unnecessary casualties. Their feelings were extremely complicated.
The only two people at the scene who remained relatively calm were Link and Dumbledore.
They no longer paid attention to the battle around them. Instead, they left the group and walked side by side toward the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards in the center of the inner city.
They both knew very well that the street fighting currently taking place in the inner city was actually not important.
The real enemy in this battle was still inside the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Although they did not know why the other side had yet to make a move, it did not matter.
If the other side would not appear, then they could simply go and meet them themselves.
The two of them walked along at an unhurried pace.
The Sky City Defense Force on the opposite side seemed to have received some relevant order. They did not stop Link and Dumbledore. Instead, they made way for them.
And so, without using any force, Link and Dumbledore passed through the entire battlefield.
During this process, Link also observed the Sky City Defense Force at close range.
To his surprise, he discovered that these white-robed defense force members were all living people with their own consciousness.
Their faces were filled with fear. When Link and Dumbledore passed by, they even gripped the wands in their hands tightly, looking as if they wanted to make a move but did not dare to.
The deeper they went into the inner city, the more inner-city civilians they saw.
Compared with the madness and punk style of the outer-city residents, these people dressed in a conventional sci-fi style.
Almost all of them were handsome men and beautiful women, with tall, strong builds, yet there was a softness in their features that gave them an air of highly civilized refinement.
These civilians were even more frightened than the Sky City Defense Force.
When they saw Link and Dumbledore, many of them were even scared into tears.
It was only after the Sky City Defense Force arrived in time that they were driven away.
Judging from the direction in which they left, they seemed to have been gathered by the Sky City Defense Force and placed in some shelters and safe houses.
This was enough to show that order still existed here.
It could even be said that the Sky City Defense Force members here still had a conscience.
"This is very strange," Link said with a frown. "The Number One I know would never allow Sky City to maintain this kind of order."
Dumbledore smiled as he watched those inner-city residents being escorted away.
"Isn't this a good thing? These Sky City residents, especially those from the inner city, are all highly capable, high-level wizards. Strictly speaking, they will sooner or later become your subjects. The more of them who survive now, the more capable subjects you'll have in the future. Isn't that right?"
"Professor Dumbledore, please don't change the subject. You should know very well what I'm trying to say."
Link continued, "You also saw what happened in the French Ministry of Magic. If you were Number One and possessed that kind of technology for turning wizards into powerful undead monsters, do you think you could resist modifying the residents of Sky City in the same way?"
This time, Dumbledore did not answer immediately. The smile on his face gradually faded as well.
He naturally understood that judging from Number One's actions in the past, it was unlikely that Number One would spare these Sky City residents.
After all, the residents of Sky City had extremely high magical talent, which meant that the undead created from them would also be stronger.
But the fact was that the condition of the residents here could completely be described as unscathed.
Amid this silence, they arrived beneath the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
The two stopped almost at the same time and looked up at the enormous building before them.
"You mean that the one controlling Sky City right now is very likely not Number One. Number One might not even be in Sky City at this moment, right?"
Dumbledore said calmly.
Hearing this, Link first nodded, then shook his head.
"I really want to say that, but at the same time, I can sense that there is a powerful presence inside this building that we have never encountered before. I really can't think of anyone in this world other than Number One who could possess such powerful magic. But at the same time, I have a very uneasy feeling. That makes me conflicted."
Dumbledore seemed to remember something, and his eyes lit up.
"Then why don't we retreat? Return to the Ying Kingdom and wait until this feeling of yours fades before discussing anything else. After all, with mental power as strong as ours, it is possible to foresee things that will happen in the future!"
Link did not answer. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the inner city behind them, which had become extremely chaotic due to the spreading flames of war.
Seeing this, the light in Dumbledore's eyes also dimmed.
He knew that things had already reached the point where there was no turning back.
They had already invaded Sky City's inner city. If they wanted to retreat now, not only would the Ministries of Magic from the other countries refuse, even Sky City, which had not been completely defeated, might carry out a terrifying retaliation afterward.
And the losses caused by such retaliation would absolutely be more than the Ying Kingdom Ministry of Magic could bear, even with the spatial lockdown in place.
After an unknown amount of time, Link finally moved. He stepped forward first, pushed open the door to the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards, and walked inside.
Dumbledore followed closely behind. As soon as the two entered, the door behind them automatically closed.
Neither of them paid much attention to this.
The main structure of the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards was made from a composite material they had never seen before.
This material far surpassed any material known to the Ying Kingdom Ministry of Magic in both strength and toughness.
But for middle-stage Legendary wizards like Link and Dumbledore, this level of strength was not enough.
If they were willing, they could break through the door or walls and rush out at any time.
The so-called lockdown was completely useless against them.
What truly surprised Link was that the interior of the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards was not the magnificent palace he had expected.
The hall where Link and Dumbledore now stood was simply a huge expanse of pure white space.
Apart from the white walls and reflective floor, there were no other decorations.
At the very back of the hall stood a silver, mirror-like elevator.
Besides that, Link also saw a huge upright light board near the elevator.
It clearly listed the various floors of the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards and the functions corresponding to each floor using characters and numbers of various colors.
The "Manor" mentioned by Sigefin earlier was also clearly listed on it.
However, its actual name was "Homeland," and it was located on the lowest underground floor of the entire headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Above it, more than a thousand floor names with different functions were densely listed.
This had already far exceeded the highest floor that could be reached by looking at the exterior of the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Clearly, spatial expansion technology similar to the Undetectable Extension Charm had also been used here, creating such an enormous space.
And within such a huge space, they had even achieved true self-sufficiency.
All the supplies needed for daily life could be produced independently, without relying on the outside world at all.
No wonder Sigefin had been able to stay in "Homeland" for more than ten years as a child without ever leaving for the outer city.
Because the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards, the residence of Sky City's rulers, could itself already be considered a new city district.
If the city district surrounding the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards was the inner city, then the headquarters itself was the inner city within the inner city.
Both Link and Dumbledore were quite curious about the light board in front of them.
Link even thought of many shopping malls from his previous life. They would usually place a light board like this near the elevators, or have self-service chat robots to help people find stores.
"Perhaps we should set up a similar map board at Hogwarts when we get back. That way, the new students won't get lost."
Link said calmly.
At present, the only map of Hogwarts that the students could access was the one recorded in Hogwarts, a History.
And the markings on that map were extremely vague, with much of the information already outdated.
This meant that the first thing new students had to do after joining Hogwarts was familiarize themselves with the terrain. Yet Hogwarts itself was as complicated as a maze and filled with many traps.
As a result, new students being punished for arriving late to class had become a common occurrence.
Link had suffered greatly from this himself back then.
If the original owner had not drawn the entire map in his diary, he probably would have had to carry the nickname "idiot" for much longer.
Link also did not have the unpleasant habit of thinking, "I suffered through this, so my juniors have to suffer through it too," so he wanted to change the situation.
However, Dumbledore said with a smile after hearing this, "Oh! This is completely unnecessary! The reason I've never changed or updated Hogwarts' maps and directions was also for the students' sake! How can Hogwarts students not be familiar with Hogwarts? Having to suffer a little for that is unavoidable!"
Link curled his lips and said nothing.
Dumbledore's excuse was extremely poor. Link thought he simply did not want to make things too easy for the new students.
He planned to send the news back to Hogwarts later and let the students of Hogwarts see the true face of their beloved headmaster.
Dumbledore clearly did not care what Link was thinking.
After brushing Link off, he somehow pulled out a magical camera and began taking pictures of the light board.
Only after taking several pictures in succession and recording the entire contents of the light board did Dumbledore point to the row of words at the very top and say, "If I'm not mistaken, that should be our destination this time."
Link followed the direction Dumbledore was pointing and saw that the very top of the light board clearly read,
Supreme Council.
He did not bother talking with Dumbledore any further.
That faint sense of foreboding had remained around his heart, making him somewhat irritable.
Link walked forward a few steps and arrived in front of the elevator, then pressed the button for the "Supreme Council."
However, nothing happened after the button was pressed.
"Looks like the direct route has been sealed off. Link, why don't you try pressing some of the buttons below?"
Link looked at Dumbledore and shook his head.
"Are you sure that will work? You should know that based on our previous experience coming to the International Confederation of Wizards, the elevator in front of us is actually a spatial teleportation device."
"I suspect that every floor here is an independent space, and they can only be connected to one another through this spatial teleportation elevator. That means it's almost impossible for us to go up floor by floor like we would in an ordinary building."
"But we don't have any other choice, do we?" Dumbledore pointed at the light board beside them. "And according to what's recorded here, there are still 'passages' between the various floors. It's just that these backup passages are relatively hidden and haven't been used for a very long time.
"So, give it a try, Link."