The sun was bright and the lake shimmered with golden light. Belak, who appeared to be completely frozen, hadn't begun to fall yet when the pale blue, snowflake-shaped solid air around him dissolved into a drizzle of water droplets.
The rain fell to mid-air, quickly turning to white mist that merged into the surroundings.
Once the condensed air-ice melted away, Belak's robes and body collapsed like a sand sculpture, crumbling into fluffy white powder that scattered and glinted with tiny sparks of light.
"This kind of power…" The effects of "Evans's Extreme Cold Ray" had exceeded Lucian's expectations. A sixth-circle high-tier mage, while under the protection of defensive spells, had been frozen body, magic, and air alike—truly terrifying.
Although this was partly because Belak had underestimated the extreme low-temperature limit of the Extreme Cold Ray and chosen the wrong defensive spell, it could not obscure the fact that purely in terms of freezing power, this seventh-circle spell had already surpassed the vast majority of ice-type spells of the same level. What was even more frightening was that with the right spellcasting materials, it could be cast by a quasi-high-tier mage who had achieved initial substantialization of their Cognition World.
In other words, to a certain degree, Lucian had lowered the requirements for similar seventh-circle spells to fifth or sixth circle while maintaining their full power—just as the Arcane Council had been doing for centuries. Many seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-circle spells had been reduced by one or two circles in their requirements, and some had even been dropped from high-tier to mid-tier. If one encountered an ancient inheritance mage and the circumstances were right, it was entirely possible to challenge opponents above one's tier.
This was one of the key advances brought about by arcanist research!
Clatter, clatter—shattered rings, amulets, and other items fell onto the small island at the center of the lake. Lucian snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at Afris, only to see its semi-transparent amber eyes fixed unblinkingly on the snow-and-ice powder that Belak had become, as if it couldn't believe its eyes and refused to accept reality.
Has even Afris been shocked by the terrifying power of the Extreme Cold Ray? I need to make it keep this secret! Lucian thought to himself, then smiled at Afris. "What's wrong? Everything alright?"
"Rings… amulets…" Afris's childish voice was thick with "heartbroken grief." Defeating enemies and looting their spoils was one of its greatest hobbies. As for the terrifying ice ray—this bizarre spell that could be cast by a fifth-circle mage to one-shot a high-tier mage—sorry, it was in no mood to think about that right now.
Now that's the real Afris. Lucian wiped non-existent beads of cold sweat from his forehead. "Those broken materials are still worth quite a bit, you know."
Actually, after achieving initial substantialization of his Cognition World, Lucian could use "Elemental Vortex" beyond his tier without being completely drained of energy as before—he could even cast it twice. So with Afris's help, there had been plenty of other ways to deal with Belak. But Lucian preferred to err on the side of caution and had gone straight for his strongest trump card.
"Really?" Afris instantly perked back up and asked eagerly.
"Of course," Lucian answered without batting an eye.
These materials were indeed worth something, but compared to the value of the rings and amulets themselves, the difference was enormous. Besides, they'd already been frozen and damaged—probably not even worth as much as a first- or second-tier magic item. But there was no way Lucian would tell Afris that. It wouldn't matter anyway; even if Afris got them, it would just add them to its collection to admire and fondle, not sell them.
Afris beat its wings and dove downward, snatching up the materials with lightning speed.
"Afris, you're happy now, aren't you?" Lucian said with a "smile."
"Mhm!" Afris replied cheerfully while sorting through the tiny, glittering materials in its claws.
"So, you should give back the 'Element' ring," Lucian continued, still "smiling."
Afris froze instantly, as if struck by lightning, then said with feigned nonchalance: "I'll keep impersonating you!"
"I don't need to go out for the time being," Lucian said, adjusting his monocle. He contacted his teacher Fernando, his classmate Tangp, Elemental Will president Morris, Lavendie, and the others one by one.
After Afris tried to weasel out of it for a while, it could see that Lucian's mind was firmly made up. The entire dragon became listless as it reluctantly removed the Holm Crown ring and handed it back to Lucian with great reluctance.
…………
Holm Kingdom, Lante.
Cardinal Adrian finished delivering his sermon to several conservative nobles and stepped out of the heavily guarded estate.
The carriage drivers nearby spotted him and gently tugged on their dragon-scale horses, pulling up in a smooth, orderly line before Adrian.
The dozen or so bishops, priests, and knights accompanying Adrian quickened their pace, splitting into two rows to "escort" him to the door of the center carriage, bowing respectfully as he prepared to board.
Adrian traced a cross over his chest, murmured a few quiet prayers, then proceeded toward the carriage with all the dignity and composure befitting a cardinal.
Suddenly, a sense of danger flooded his heart—as if receiving a divine warning—and he instinctively cast the seventh-circle Divine Art, "Chaotic Teleportation."
A gate adorned with milky-white light and suffused with sacred meaning swung open before him.
But just as he was about to step through, the illusory gate—like an entrance to Heavenly Mountain—shuddered violently and shattered apart.
Ninth-circle force magic: "Spatial Lock"!
Immediately after, the surrounding temperature skyrocketed. The air shimmered and warped with heat, and the ground dissolved into orange-yellow magma. The dozen or so bishops, priests, and knights didn't even have time to scream before they were reduced to wisps of blue-gray smoke.
Adrian's cardinal robes began to melt. The "Magic Absorption Armor" and "Blade Barrier" triggered by the damage likewise melted away like candles in the face of the horrifying heat and flames.
Ninth-circle elemental magic: "Lavendie's
The triggered effects activated, but "Radiant Leap" remained sealed—Adrian could only wail as he charred to death!
A few minutes later, the raging, burning Hell of Flames subsided. The terrified carriage drivers stared at a deep crater whose radius encompassed precisely the dozen or so clergy members, while the carriages and their drivers, mere fingers' widths away, were completely unharmed. Even the dragon-scale horses were idly snorting.