Throne of Magical Arcana

As the black gate was slowly opened, Lucien held the Shield of Truth even more tightly. If it was the monster that was coming, he would probably be at the peak of legendary according to Rhine and his speculation.

The red eyes, the short height, the long magic robe that reached the ground, and the handsome but old face… The familiar look made Lucien blurt out. “Master.”

Then, he saw the tall old man behind Fernando. It was exactly the gentle but intimidating Douglas. He said, “Mr. President.”

Fernando did not give a reply immediately. He remained silent for almost ten seconds, as if he were confirming Lucien’s identity in secret. In the end, he seemed relieved. “You didn’t encounter any danger, did you?”

…

Fernando opened the black gate with magic and suddenly sensed two people inside. So, he was even more wary, and the Robe of Dominance, the Eye of Storm and Abrupt Magic Reverse were all ready.

Then, he heard Lucien’s voice. “Master, Mr. President.”

His worries were greatly eased, but he was careful enough to confirm Lucien’s identity with multiple magic approaches. Douglas also checked the uniqueness of the Secretive with his astrology.

…

Although the features such as the air and the spiritual power all told Lucien that it was his teacher and the president standing before his eyes, his previous experience made him full of wariness. Still holding the Shield of Truth as before, he said, “Mr. President, master, there’s a monster in this place who can transform into anyone with the victim’s every feature. I just encountered him when he pretended to be Mr. Rhine. He even simulated the reaction of the Origin of Blood.”

Fernando glared at him. “Are you implying that we are impersonated by the monster? Can he fabricate the projection of my demiplane, too?”

A dark thunderstorm blew around him, and the Thunder Hell had arrived.

Hearing the familiar roars and storms, Lucien felt that his heart was hot, somewhat believing that it was his master.

Douglas, on the other hand, considered for a moment and asked, “Lucien, since the Silver-eyed Count is with you, it means that you have other ways to confirm each other’s identity. Do we need to do anything to cooperate with you?”

“We confirmed each other’s identity with the air of the Primordial Ancestor. I don’t think it’s possible for you.” Rhine smiled and answered on behalf of Lucien. “However, the solution is very simple. This place is not far from the entrance. We do not need to go with you. Since both of you are at the peak of legendary, I don’t think anything can stop you from returning. Everything will be clear once we’re out.”

In the dangerous ‘Realm of Gates’ where there was a monster that could pretend to be everybody, people tended to be suspicious of each other. Lucien was not entirely reassured about Rhine even to this moment. Therefore, he totally agreed with his proposal.

Fernando roared. “Nonsense! If the monster is so terrifying, will he watch you two leave without doing anything? You can’t confirm my identity?”

Despite his roars, he remained calm and cleared the way without underestimating the monster.

“In that case, you will go to the entrance first, and we will follow you in case the monster chases after you.” Douglas nodded his head and agreed with Rhine’s proposal.

Therefore, the two top legendary sorcerers stood at the corners of the grey hall and cleared the black gate. Lucien and Rhine, on the other hand, moved to the gate that was on the entrance’s side carefully, each watching over one side. They were finally more or less relaxed when they were about to enter the gate.

Then, Douglas and Fernando moved and followed them.

Their action was absolutely fine, but Lucien was rather anxious. His transformation was about to be over. In order to perform it again, he would need a few seconds to pacify his blood power. Those few seconds would be highly dangerous. He could not make any mistakes in such an environment.

Should he ask his teacher to follow them one hall away? But in such a case, wouldn’t he lose the greatest help if he encountered a top legendary monster?

I have to find a way to confirm their identity… Lucien thought quickly.

Rhine was about to open the black gate up ahead. Fearing that they might encounter a top legendary monster, Fernando and Douglas were closer and closer to them.

Then, they suddenly heard Lucien speak, “Mr. President, master, wait a moment.”

“What is it?” Fernando seemed angry about not being trusted.

Rhine, on the other hand, looked at Lucien curiously, wondering what he was going to ask.

Lucien asked rather solemnly, “Mr. President, master, how can the atom model with two electrons be resolved with matrix mechanics?”

“Huh…” Fernando and Douglas were both stunned.

…

“The air, the spiritual power and the blood power are identical…”

“His location is deviated from this place according to my prophecy, but that might not be ‘the Secretive’, because many other ways could create a similar effect…”

In the telepathic bond, Fernando and Douglas exchanged their information. They had to be careful. Their past adventures made them respect all the dangerous places instead of blindly trusting their magic, not to mention that this was the deepest part of the World of Souls where many legendary sorcerers had gone missing!

“He should be Lucien, but we can’t be careless even if he is the real Lucien. There are too many sorcerers who were corrupted and lost, weren’t there?” Fernando was not hasty and impatient at all. He had been nearly killed many times because of his personality in the past adventures, and he had learnt to control himself.

Lucien, holding the Shield of Truth, said delightedly, “Mr. President, master, there’s a terrible monster in this place that is at the peak of legendary. If I hadn’t encountered Mr. Rhine and received his help after he summoned Silver Moon Alterna, I probably would’ve been killed by the monster.”

“Let’s get out of this place!”

“Where is the Silver-eyed Count?” Douglas looked around in confusion.

Fernando, on the other hand, frowned and asked, “Only one top legendary monster?”

The word ‘only’ fully demonstrated his confidence and dominance.

“I don’t know. We were separated after the battle. Also, this is the Realm of Gates. There’s no way to locate him at all without knowing his coordinates.” Lucien said in frustration. “Also, the monster may be even more terrible than what we saw. I found some of the last belongings and notebooks left by Mr. Maskelyne’s team. They were full of desperation and hysteria.”

“Notebooks? Last belongings? Let me take a look.” Said Douglas solemnly.

Lucien took out the grey notebook and the greenish item. Canceling the Shield of Truth, he was about to hand it over to Fernando.

“Wait a moment.” Douglas suddenly stopped him. “Deliver it with magic. Don’t come close.”

“What’s the meaning of this, Mr. President?” Lucien appeared confused.

Douglas said gently, “This is the deepest part of the World of Souls where any accident may happen. So, we can’t be more careful. Well, this place is not far away from the entrance. Let’s read them outside. You will go first. We’ll follow you.”

Lucien nodded. “That is absolutely correct.”

…

After a brief daze, Douglas said in amusement, “Aren’t there no answers or inspirations to the question yet?”

“That’s why I would like to hear your opinion. This is a pure regular arcana communication about the new frontier.” Lucien smiled.

Memories could be obtained via special methods, and the blood power and the spiritual power could be fabricated as if they were real. However, Lucien believed that the ability to comprehensively make use of the knowledge in the memories and the mindset that was a sublimation of memories were the most special parts in everybody. It was barely possible for the monster to mimic them. When it came to a new frontier of arcana where no answers had been raised yet, the two idiosyncrasies would be best revealed.

If it were on Earth, Lucien wouldn’t be so sure, but this world had souls. Mindset was the closest thing to the soul and was one of the most essential nature of a person. If the monster could simulate that perfectly, Lucien would find it hard to imagine what constituted a person.

“Discussing an arcana problem at such a moment? Are you out of your mind?” Fernando burst into fury.

Lucien said, without giving in, “The monster can only obtain memories, but he cannot comprehensively utilize the knowledge in them to resolve new arcana problems. This is the best way of identification.”

Fernando suddenly smiled. “You are such a nuisance. Wouldn’t it be much better if you could just be deceived by me and die? Why do you have to make me attack you?”

His voice was still echoing, when he fell apart like a shadow and melted into Douglas’s body, with a weird smile popping up on his face:

“Advanced Time Stop!”

The grey was frozen, and the vague paleness surfaced. Everything around stopped functioning. Even the alternate space behind the Shield of Truth seemed to be affected and became rather slow, making it impossible for Lucien to wield the Sword of Truth. Besides, the Moon Timer’s weakening of the power of time and space was not as good as he expected. Lucien could only watch ‘Douglas’ in a strange way although his head was still normal.

Was it ‘Advanced Time Stop’ performed by the top legend?

He had been so greatly affected even though he had the Moon Timer and the Shield of Truth!

“Eternal Blaze!”

After the time was stopped, ‘Douglas’ pressed his hands and cast the spell.

If he were to be killed by ‘Advanced Time Stop’ plus ‘Eternal Blaze’, he would definitely die full of regrets!

At this moment, Lucien wondered whether he would be resurrected after he was killed inside this mysterious ‘Realm of Gates’, or would he be forever locked here like a ghost.

…

Lucien nodded. “That is absolutely correct.”

As he talked, he stepped forward, ready to walk past Douglas and Fernando.

Right then, the smile on his face became mysterious. He pointed with his right hand and declared, “Light of Judgment!”

A magnificent and intimidating beam of light seemed to have descended directly from Mountain Paradise, with the power that could destroy everything.

“Abrupt Magic Reverse!” Fernando’s long-prepared spell was performed.

A mirror full of beautiful, enigmatic patterns appeared, as if it were connected to a different world.

After the Light of Judgment hit the mirror, it was reflected abruptly and hit ‘Lucien’, but it merely broke an illusion.

The ‘Abrupt Magic Reverse’, which could reflect five spells that targeted individuals, seemed to have reached the limits of its capacity. It was completely broken after being used only once.

In midair, a shadow slowly appeared. He had a headful of white hair, a sacred crown, and a platinum staff in his hand.

“Benedict III!” Douglas couldn’t have been more grave.