Throne of Magical Arcana

In the headquarters of the Hand of Paleness at Heidler, inside a dark, steepled magic tower, after destroying the barricades through Advanced Cracking and Elemental Dissection, Fernando and Hathaway found the entrance to the Land of Dirt, Congus’ demiplane, with the help of Bergner’s astrology.

Then, they repeated what they did. Since their master was not here, most of the defenses were broken in only one hour by two grand arcanists and one prophet. The only thing left before them was Demigod-lich’s secret chamber where his phylactery was kept. They saw a black box that was embedded with all kinds of rare gems and sensed the bouncing of soul fire inside.

“It’s a barrier of ‘Desperate Abyss’.” Bergner reminded Fernando and Hathaway in case they were swallowed. The magic circle with which Demigod-lich protected his phylactery certainly entailed dangers.

Fernando simply twisted the space around with ‘Electromagnetic Storm’, blocking the last connection between the magic circle and the control pivot, while Hathaway started to brutally crack the barrier with ‘Extravagant Dissolution’. They did not have the time or patience to analyze and guess the riddles to destroy the defenses at minimal cost. In order to gain more time for the rescue, it was acceptable to suffer the counterattack or even be heavily wounded.

The magic circle was dispelled and broken layer by layer. The secret chamber seemed to have become an abyss, and a powerful counterattack was about to be launched.

Suddenly, Fernando, Hathaway and Bergner all sensed something and raised their heads. Through the transparent barrier, they observed the black phylactery.

The space above the phylactery was twisted and blurred abruptly, displaying the outbreak of infinite light, in which a gold skull was howling miserably while being broken and melted.

The air of destruction was able to be sensed by Fernando, Hathaway and Bergner even though there was a ‘Desperate Abyss’ in between.

As the gold skull quickly vanished, the projection of the scene was blurred, and the viewpoint went further and further away.

The three legendary sorcerers discovered in shock that a strange, orange cloud in the shape of a mushroom rose in the mountains where the light burst out. It was so large that almost half of the sky was blocked.

The blast spread out, raising rings of smoke, which made the ‘mushroom’ look exceptionally weird.

After leaving a deep impression on Fernando, Hathaway and Bergner, the mushroom disappeared together with the projection of the scene.

“The explosion was as powerful as a full-strength blow from the president.” Reviewing what he just saw, Bergner reached the conclusion. He looked at Hathaway, as if he was asking the opinion of the authority in the elemental field. “It looked like simple, explosive magic. Generally speaking, the power of such magic can be improved. I wonder if it can reach the level of God’s Arrival in the end.”

Looking at her front in silence, Hathaway seemed to be considering something, or organizing her speech. “I sensed that the explosion had something to do with the mysteries of the sun. As to how much it can be improved, I cannot say anything without examining the theory and the structure of the magic first.”

“Who was Congus fighting?” Fernando slightly frowned. “Mysteries of the sun… Is it still with the boy Lucien? But what did he use to perform the magic of such a level?”

When the illusionary sun rose earlier, Fernando already sensed that it was possibly related to Lucien. Now that the same scene had appeared again when Congus hunted Lucien, he naturally associated the two incidents. However, he did not think that Lucien had advanced to the peak of legendary all of a sudden. Even though he had insights on the mysteries of the sun due to his previous research, and he achieved the model of legendary magic, his strength had to be improved step by step. Therefore, Fernando suspected that Lucien borrowed power from somewhere.

The precious magic gems on the black phylactery began to emit different colors and absorbed the other materials around, rebuilding a gold skull. Fernando and Hathaway looked at each other and accelerated the speed of cracking ‘Desolate Abyss’.

After almost an hour, the gold skull took shape, and Congus woke up from the dark. However, the outburst of light that resembled the arrival of the sun still lingered in his eyes.

For undead creatures, such light itself caused the greatest damage, not to mention that it came with a terrifying blast and unbelievable high temperature. Congus almost failed to weather through it and became the first lich who couldn’t be revived even though he had a phylactery.

“The Silver Moon had recovered a long time ago and had been waiting for a chance. Thankfully, I made it back alive.” Congus thought to himself in fear. At this moment, his soul was still being developed inside the gold skull, and he hadn’t sensed the surroundings yet. “Also, what exactly was the magic that Lucien Evans used? How could it have been so horrifying?”

Although he only had time for a peep, he could tell with his experience that Silver Moon Alterna lent her strength to Lucien and allowed him to perform the magic. If the spell had belonged to the Silver Moon, it could’ve been cast much easier.

“How many more secrets is the boy hiding?” The more he hunted Lucien, the more shocked he became. But soon, he calmed down and considered future plans. “The Silver Moon has recovered. The predator will become the prey. It’s a pity that the main consciousness of the mysterious existence of the World of Souls was wiped out by Lucien’s ‘legendary magic’ along with my shell. All my endeavors have proved to be for nothing. I even lost my ring!”

He had been quite satisfied about the legendary ring and regarded it as a divine item. Although he had chosen Necromancy, the field he was best at, and used his legendary class as the architecture in order to improve the odds of success, which meant that the abilities of the ring overlapped with his own abilities, it did not change the fact that the ring was the only legendary item that he had forged. It was a masterpiece that made him proud.

“Lucien and Natasha, the two rats, are not dead. I cannot stay in the congress anymore. Should I join the guys in the World of Souls, or should I hide in the Dark Mountain Range?”

Pondering for a while, Congus made up his mind to enter the World of Souls. He gnashed his teeth, “If there is any chance in future, I will definitely fulfill my promise and turn you two little rats into corpse prostitutes!”

A moment later, as his spiritual power restored, Congus’ gold skull floated, and his eye sockets were filled with the previous needle-like redness. He was about to go to the nearest gap to the World of Souls.

“You?” It was not until this moment that he noticed Fernando, Hathaway and Bergner who were observing him. Sensing the horrifying fury that the Lord of Storms was holding back, he hurried to say, “Lucien is not dead, and neither is Natasha!”

He was worried that the old pervert would change from roaring into attacking in excitement and wipe him as well as his phylactery. Now that his capabilities had been reduced by a half and not entirely recovered, there was no way that he could resist Fernando, not to mention that expressionless Hathaway was standing next to him.

“You have still done things that are punishable by death!” Fernando roared.

Congus calmed down and looked at the prophet that the congress sent. “Bergner, it was wrong of me to try to kill a senior-rank sorcerer of the congress and to search for Silver Moon Alterna and the World of Souls on my own. I should be punished as a warning for the other sorcerers of the congress. However, Lucien Evans is not dead. Please be careful about the degree of the punishment. Also, I demand a meeting of the Highest Council, where all the members will discuss my punishment together. This is the treatment that a legendary sorcerer deserves!”

The congress had only eighteen legendary sorcerers. The Church, which was the most powerful of all, had only twenty of them. The legendary are the best warriors and the foundation for any organization. The loss of a legendary sorcerer was a great retrogression to every organization. Therefore, Congus was qualified to propose such a demand.

Bergner, who always considered the development of the Congress of Magic, nodded and said to Fernando and Hathaway, “Congus has violated the rules of the congress and almost killed a senior-rank sorcerer. It is indeed a horrible mistake. However, it’s still ‘almost’. Lucien Evans is alive. Therefore, Congus’ crime does not deserve the death penalty.”

“Also, I believe that you are well aware of the role of a legendary sorcerer. He should be punished aptly. For example, under the witness of magic source, Congus will swear to the two of you or to Lucien Evans that he will not hurt him anymore. He will also offer tremendous compensations and be appointed as an explorer of a few dangerous areas. That should be enough.”

“Hunting a senior-rank sorcerer of the congress blatantly is a severe provocation against the order of the congress. If such a behavior is not punished with alarming penalties, I believe that all the sorcerers in the congress will worry about themselves. There will be no sense of community at all. Compared to such a consequence, the loss of a legendary sorcerer is not unacceptable!” The Lord of Storm tried to suppress his anger, but he sounded like he was roaring even when he was only expressing his reasoning.

Congus still looked at Bergner and said, “However, Lucien Evans is not dead, and he actually did not suffer any loss. Is a senior-rank sorcerer more important than a legendary sorcerer? Although he may become a grand arcanist in a few years, that’s only a possibility! His new alchemy system hasn’t been proven yet! Do you want to kill a legendary sorcerer just to appease him?”

“I believe that the members of the Highest Council should be able to make a judicious conclusion about which is more important, a sixth-circle sorcerer who may grow into a legendary sorcerer, or a sorcerer who has already advanced into legendary!”

He intentionally avoided the terrifying legendary magic that Lucien just performed and simply focused on his current identity and position.

As long as the case was appealed to the Highest Council, Vicente, who had the veto right, could at least keep him alive!

Bergner looked at Fernando and Hathaway in a dilemma. “In any case, the punishments for legendary sorcerers should be decided by the Highest Council together, not by us in private. Alright, Fernando, Hathaway, let’s bring Congus back to Allyn and convene a meeting of the Highest Council to discuss his mistake, evaluate his sincerity and value, and make a final decision.”

Douglas’ request for him, other than providing help, was to stop the two grand arcanists from outrageous actions. Therefore, he suggested that the two grand arcanists should consider the future of the congress and attach enough importance to a legendary sorcerer.

Fernando’s face was a bit twisted, and his eyes were occupied by storms. However, he contained himself and fell silent, as if he had accepted Bergner’s suggestion.

Seeing that, Congus was relieved and started enhancing himself with the magics such as ‘Magic Order’ in case of accidents.

Hathaway, on the other hand, simply walked out, as if she had accepted the result more easily than Fernando did.

By the time Hathaway reached Bergner, Bergner suddenly felt that a world-destroying storm burst out in the tiny chamber. Lightning rose like trees, and thunder blew up the ceiling. Noises of broken items echoed nonstop. The weather within ten kilometers was affected and changed into a thunderstorm, too.

Congus’ cry came to an abrupt halt when it just rang out. The crystal ball in Bergner’s hands glittered, and he was about to save Congus, but the silver, grey eyes on Hathaway’s expressionless face simply stared at him without blinking, until he abandoned all his movements.

“Ahhh!” The phylactery was broken. A scream that seemed to be echoing inside the soul disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

The thunderstorm ended. Fernando walked to Bergner’s front. With the remaining lightning flashing in his red eyes, he roared terrifyingly: “Let’s convene a meeting of the Highest Council to discuss which is more important, two living grand arcanists or a dead legendary sorcerer!”