The City in the Sky, thirty-third floor of the Alinsol Arcane Tower.
After receiving the report from Herkuli, the "Lord of Wind," Helen, the "Ice Witch," immediately activated the dark crimson Magic Circle hidden in her desk — its lines twisted and wound like earthworms, or perhaps like the workings of the human heart.
The dark crimson light blazed, and the tower spirit of the Alinsol Arcane Tower, Prosper, shifted from his usual lighthearted and lively tone to a deep, solemn voice: "Activating Emergency Protocol Three. Establishing connections with all demiplanes."
Two seconds later, a curtain of dark crimson light unfurled around Helen, forming fifteen separate views — some were secret realms indistinguishable from the real world, others were kingdoms crackling with electromagnetic energy, some were gardens where the light and shadow of human hearts shifted ceaselessly, and still others were vast, kaleidoscopic universes.
"Excluding the few esteemed lords currently away, a total of fifteen demiplanes have opened and responded," Prosper continued in the same solemn tone.
Helen's expression remained calm as she spoke concisely: "The Will of the
This recommendation was made to guard against contingencies. Even if they fell into a trap or found themselves unable to prevent the Will of the Abyss from descending, this level of strength would be sufficient for a safe retreat. After all, no matter how injured the Will of the Abyss might be, it was still a quasi-divine existence — anyone below the third tier of Legendary could be killed in an instant. If it were at full strength, Helen wouldn't have suggested sending Grand Archanists at all; she would have directly stated that peak Legendary fighters were required. With strange and wondrous Arcane Magic or equipment, a third-tier Legendary still had some hope of escaping a quasi-divine being, but the danger was extreme. Under anything less than necessary circumstances, who would be willing to try?
Furthermore, as the hidden Legendary powerhouse behind Palmela Cottage, Helen Paris made no excuses, directly stating her willingness to go handle the situation. After all, if she — the de facto ruler of the Northlands — wasn't willing to take the risk to stop it, the other Grand Archanists would certainly have second thoughts.
Helen's decisiveness prevented any bickering during the emergency Supreme Council meeting.
"Understood." Lucian didn't hesitate, and Fernando had already appeared in Helen's study — he was always the impatient and hot-tempered sort.
Since the Northlands' coastal corridor was quite far from Alinsol, and the teleportation circle was faster than spatial jumps, Douglas, Lucian, and the others teleported directly to the Arcane Council's branch in Keshivic.
Atop the high tower.
Begna the "Seer" gazed at the darkening sky and murmured to himself: "A meteor shower tonight — could it be an omen of something?"
The meteor shower's impact point was in the depths of the endless ocean, so Begna hadn't paid much attention to this celestial phenomenon at first. After giving its symbolic meaning a cursory reading, he had set it aside. Now, recalling it, his heart stirred with faint, uneasy ripples.
…………
The "Lady of Flame" bore the very feminine name "Elaine," and in person she was as lovely as a rose. But once she donned that suit of scale armor — which looked as though it were fashioned from rose petals — and gripped her pair of flame-like short swords, every trace of delicacy and beauty vanished from her being. She became a blazing, leaping inferno, radiating a searing heat that drove others back and dared not be looked at directly.
"The aura of chaos is still growing, which means the Will of the Abyss hasn't truly descended yet. We still have time to stop it. We can't sit around waiting for reinforcements from Alinsol — the opportunity might slip away in the waiting. I refuse to watch my homeland become a chaotic, blood-soaked abyss." She and Herkuli, the "Lord of Wind," had already approached the primordial forest.
Within this not-insignificant distance, the spatial translocation and rapid traversal that Epic Knights possessed through their innate talents were no slower than the demiplane jumps of Legendary mages.
Her words were mainly an expression of resolve. When it came to defending their homeland, Epic Knights were far more resolute than Legendary mages — for it was their knightly creed.
Herkuli's hairstyle resembled curled clouds at the horizon, his body slightly plump, his appearance honest and amiable. He smiled and said: "It still hasn't fully descended after all this time. It seems the Will of the Abyss chose a rather inelegant method — quite the contrast from what happened in Lontart."
During the Battle of Lontart, the Will of the Abyss had made use of the blood sacrifice following the destruction of the "Earthly Paradise" to fully descend in an impossibly short time, giving Pope
Herkuli harbored no great suspicions about this. If it were capable of weighing pros and cons, carefully choosing its timing, and waiting for its injuries to heal before acting, then it wouldn't be the "Will of the Abyss" — it would be the "Lord of
As for why it had chosen this method, Herkuli didn't even bother trying to figure it out. If he could guess correctly, he would suspect that he had already been corrupted by the aura of the Abyss and was beginning to lose the wisdom and cool-headed thinking he prided himself on. The world of the Will of the Abyss was something no normal person could ever understand.
At the heart of the forest, a mass of ink-black darkness shrouded the earth. Every tree within its reach was stained with a sickening, exaggerated crawling black, and from their trunks opened blood-red eyes, while their branches writhed actively like tentacles.
"Monster Forest..." The "Lady of Flame" offered that blunt assessment before spotting a blood-red gate in the darkest area, its surface covered in patterns so chaotic they could make even Legendary fighters dizzy.
Around this blood-red gate, flames of mingled pale white and crimson rose and flickered, appearing ethereal and insubstantial, unable to coalesce into anything solid.
"Good — the extraplanar gate that would allow a quasi-divine being to descend hasn't taken shape yet. If we destroy it, we can prevent the tragedy." Before Herkuli, the "Lord of Wind," had even finished speaking, a sinister, chaotic roar suddenly sounded from behind the gate.
ROAR!
Crack, crack, crack — Herkuli's passive magic triggered, and clusters of clouds wreathed with flickering serpents of lightning gathered around him, steadying him just as he nearly fell from the sky.