Throne of Magical Arcana

Douglas was not as straightforward as Hathaway, but his chuckle expressed all he wanted to say.

“This Heart of Time is your trophy. Keep it for yourself.” Fernando reminded them.

Since it was partly protected by the Shield of Truth, and it was a level-three legendary item itself, the rippling longsword, ‘Heart of Time’, was not ruined in the final explosions. Although the cracks were deepened, it still gave the profound feeling of the passage of time.

Natasha looked at it and said to Lucien with a smile, “I already have a Sword of Truth. Heart of Time is of no use to me. You can trade it for other things.”

“There’s no need to exchange it. You can improve the Moon Timer using its parts.” Said Hathaway calmly.

Since he kept his state as a legendary knight, Lucien picked up the longsword and nodded after checking it. “After my abilities in time and space grow, I should be able to upgrade the Moon Timer to level two with this.”

The materials of time and space were always rare. With ‘Heart of Time’, Lucien was spared of the worries to search for materials to upgrade his unique legendary item.

Douglas looked around. “Let’s go back to Allyn. The guests are still waiting for you at the wedding. We’ll talk about the World of Souls tomorrow.”

Hearing that, Lucien looked at Natasha and asked, “Do you want to treat your wedding dress and your wounds first?”

Putting back Kritonia’s storage bag, Natasha held the bleeding badge and chuckled. “No. Blood and wounds are the best wedding decorations for a knight! Nobody has ever worn such a wedding dress before!”

……

In the depths of the World of Souls, the stretch of black temples rose magnificently like a kingdom. The steeples pierced into the infinite sky.

Inside the palace, the black wall and floor made everything cold and silent. Moving forward along a straight avenue, and passing through the lifeless corridors and gardens, one would reach the largest building. At the center of the building was a borderless grey curtain that did not have an upper bound, in which countless astounding souls were embedded.

Some of the faces in the Furnace of Souls were twisted, and some hideous; some were peaceful, and some were angry. But there was absolutely no sound.

Click, click, click. Weird footsteps echoed behind the curtain and broke the silence.

A ghost moved forward heavily, as if it had weight and a physical body.

When it passed the Furnace of Souls from the back, the ghost suddenly raised its head, revealing a pale face that belonged to ‘Original Fire’ Banham!

A meteor seemed to be lingering in his eyes, making his transparent soul ripple nonstop, as if he would collapse any moment.

The Original Fire extended his right hand and pressed the Furnace of Souls. The ripples were suppressed, and his soul was much more concrete. Then, he gnashed his teeth, “Douglas! Hathaway! Lucien! Natasha!”

He cursed every name angrily.

“My legendary items!”

“Those goddamn questions!”

It was not until a long time later that he turned around to the other side of the temple. His footsteps were still slow, and his feet were still leaving weird sounds on the floor.

Click, click, click. The Original Fire disappeared into the temple.

……

In the garden behind Allyn, the flowers were all blossoming.

Giant flowers that looked like tulips shook their bodies and sang delightful songs like the best musicians, and the tall trees waved their branches and whipped their trunks, making noise that sounded like timpani. There were also bushes that were playing flutes… The ‘natives’ of the magic garden treated the guests with pleasant songs.

“Oh, this is so dreamy!”

“This is unimaginable!”

“Are they magic plans?”

At the center of the garden was a broad lawn with a red carpet and many pure tables and chairs. All the nobles who attended the wedding were astounded. They all had seen magic plants before, but those plants were all creepy and terrifying. None of them were as joyful as the plants here.

Even the low-rank sorcerers were quite shocked. Those plants could’ve established an orchestra!

As if sensing their surprise and delight, the magic plants worked even harder, spreading the melody of happiness to every corner.

“Fantastic! Magic is so fantastic!” Said Elvin excitedly. He had been admitted by the magic school last year, but he had been more or less frustrated because of his poor performance. What he saw today greatly cheered him. After all, he would grow one step after another!

It was the first time that Joel, Alisa and John had been through this. The contemporary arcanists and the ancient arcanists were indeed different! Their last grudge and shadow against sorcerers faded.

“Why have I never heard of the music before?” Louise appreciated the cheerful melodies with a few noble ladies who were into music.

Julie, granddaughter of Marquis Henson (his title had been promoted by Natasha because of his previous contribution), said reverentially, “His Excellency Evans is one of the greatest musicians, and the queen is talented in music, too. They must’ve composed specifically for their wedding. This feels great. I’m going to play the same songs at my wedding!”

When the girls discussed music lightheartedly, Winston, James and Grand Duke of Orvarit waited anxiously.

“They were swallowed by the World of Souls. Somebody legendary must be behind it…” Said Winston gloomily, regretting that he failed to react sooner.

His conclusion made Grand Duke of Orvarit look even worse. He was unable to speak anything.

Duke James consoled the Grand Duke. “With Her Excellency the Lord of Elements, the queen and His Excellency Evans will be fine.”

“They seem to have taken Granny Hathaway into consideration.” Despite his old age, Grand Duke of Orvarit still called Hathaway as granny. He looked worried.

“I suspect that Kritonia is involved.” Said Winston in a low voice. It was his intuition.

Duke James took a soft breath. “He’s really a problem. However, a level-three legendary knight can barely be killed. Are we really going to wait for him to die of old age?”

They were enshrouded in intense depression despite the joyful music.

Suddenly, two people descended from the sky, with the vague scent of blood.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Excellency Evans!”

Exclamations rose nonstop, because Natasha’s white wedding dress had been saturated with blood, and silver-and-purple blood was dripping to the carpet from her abdomen. In the meantime, blood was dripping from her hand, too, but it seemed to be holding something.

Because he embraced Natasha and cooperated with her, Lucien’s black tailcoat was also stained with glistening spots of blood.

“Were they attacked?”

“Are they heavily wounded?”

The sorcerers and nobles whispered to each other concernedly.

Grand Duke of Orvarit, Winston and James, however, were relieved. Everything was good as long as they were back! Also, they noticed Hathaway, Douglas and Fernando on the other side. It seemed that nobody died.

Natasha smiled at her father and nodded. Then, she struggled to walk forward with Lucien towards the end of the red carpet, where there was an arch that represented marriage in the tradition of the sorcerers.

Because of her heavy wounds, Natasha’s every step would make her drip even more blood. She couldn’t help but bite her lips hard to hold back the agony. Redness flowed out of her lips, like a weird gloss. Lucien, on the other hand, was only holding her left hand without supporting her, as per her own wish to finish the symbolic carpet.

The drops of blood blossomed on the carpet, but Natasha’s back was as straight as ever.

The exciting melodies suddenly changed, turning solemn and sacred.

The scene stunned the guests into silence as they watched them reach the end of the red carpet.

Natasha suddenly turned around and raised her right hand, revealing a bloodstained badge, before she announced:

“I once swore that I would execute Kritonia in person and avenge my uncle.”

“Today, I have received the best wedding gift. With my husband’s help, I killed him in person!”

Blood was still dripping from the badge, and it seemed to be landing on everybody’s heart.

“What? A ninth-circle archmage and a gold knight killed Heart of Time?”

“That’s a legend! A level-three legend!”

The eyes of disbelief were gathered in Natasha’s hands. Many people recognized that it was Kritonia’s unique badge!

“That’s impossible…”

“Did the Congress of Magic helped them?”

Winston looked at Hathaway in surprise. Did she kill the guy?

At this moment, Lucien did not say anything. He raised his left hand and pointed at the sky with a rippling longsword. Then, the environment changed, and a dark, profound cosmos surfaced. However, every planet in the cosmos was made of two different colors according to different ratios, like different elements. They were surrounded by a certain number of illusionary satellites.

It was the tiniest and the greatest. It was one and it was everything. It was exactly the Atomic Universe!

“Is this the longsword, ‘Heart of Time’?”

“His Excellency Evans has already advanced into legendary?”

“What… What kind of speed is this?”

“If they caught the enemy unprepared, together with the Sword of Truth, it’s possible that they could’ve killed him!”

Everybody was shocked. Nobody could foresee that Lucien could advance into legendary so quickly!

Winston, James and Gaston felt that they were going through a dream that was full of the most unbelievable twists and turns.

Natasha waved her right hand again and crumbled the badge into pieces, before she declared solemnly: “The honor and glory of the Hoffenberg family must not be tarnished!”

Nobody questioned her declaration this time. Instead, the bloodstained wedding dress and the tall shadow left a deep impression on everyone. The hideous dress at the beginning had a weird sense of beauty to it now, attracting a lot of ladies.

Sensing that Natasha was running out of strength, Lucien held her hand and walked through the arch, reaching Douglas.

“You’ve been through many dangers, difficulties and unimaginable tests before you finally came to this place. I hereby proclaim that you are a married couple!” Douglas said solemnly and gently.

The marriage in the Congress of Magic was very simple. Now that it was over, the solemn music became exciting and delightful again.

After Lucien and Natasha exchanged their rings again, Douglas smiled and was about to say ‘you may kiss the bride’.

However, Natasha suddenly hugged Lucien at this moment and gave him a deep kiss.

Briefly stunned, Douglas shook his head with a smile.

The vague scent of blood, mixed with the familiar air, came at his face. Lucien was dazed at first, but then he hugged Natasha back and kissed her, forgetting the guests and everything else around.

They were finally a married couple now, a couple who would help and support each other for the rest of their life!

The beautiful scene made a lot of sorcerers raise their hands and close their thumb and their index finger into a square. Pressing it, they kept the scene of the kiss.

Although the photographic magic hadn’t been simplified into any alchemical item yet, it was not a difficult task for them.