The fireplace in the grand hall burned with roaring flames, driving away the biting cold of the Month of Ice. Heidi and Reiliya and their friends lounged languidly in recliners nearby, each holding a different book, reading and nibbling on an assortment of sweets.
Although every room had been fitted with arcane air conditioning that kept things warm in winter and cool in summer, Heidi preferred the fireplace. The dancing flames within brought her a warmth that came from deep inside, like the symbol of a true home.
"It's so nice to be able to use magic—no need to worry about getting fat from eating sweets," Heidi said contentedly, patting her stomach. The "Fat Burning" technique wasn't just useful against enemies; a female mage who could control the degree of it would find it quite welcome.
A sudden feeling stirred within her, and she blinked directly to the window via a short-range teleport. Lifting her gaze to the high sky, she saw brilliant meteors streaking across the heavens, falling like rain—beautiful and dreamlike.
"Look! A meteor shower!" Heidi had absolutely no resistance to such a spectacle. She shouted excitedly to her companions.
But then her gaze suddenly sharpened. Based on her knowledge of astromancy and force field theory, the meteors were falling toward…
"Alinsol!" The word burst from her mouth.
The mages stargazing in their towers also gaped in shock. In all their prior observations and prophecies, hadn't the meteor shower been supposed to fall into the depths of the Endless Ocean? The Council would certainly have dispatched numerous mages to retrieve extraterrestrial meteorite fragments there for research and alchemical materials. So why had the trajectory suddenly shifted, raining down upon Alinsol like a deluge?
"Alinsol…" Brooke and Heatherveil, who were watching over the Sky City in Helen's stead, noticed even earlier than the others.
Brooke had initially intended to fly out directly and shatter every meteor in midair. But the scale of this meteor shower far exceeded imagination, and the bizarre change in the point of impact gave him a bad feeling. He refrained from rashly going out to intercept.
"Level One alert. The Alinsol Labyrinth is to be fully activated," Heatherveil said calmly beside him, triggering the corresponding Magic Circle. "Defense is the priority. Use beam and laser-type Arcane Magic to destroy any meteors that might strike Lontart or nearby inhabited areas."
The strangeness of the situation had prompted her to raise the alert level by one; otherwise, a natural disaster like this would have warranted at most a Level Two.
Brooke issued orders through the still-connected demiplane: "All branch tower defense arrays are to be fully activated. Legendary guardians are to extend their vigilance range. All other Legendaries are to report to Alinsol immediately. Prepare for interception and rescue operations."
"We should also try to contact the Legendaries who are currently away—muster every last bit of strength," Heatherveil added.
The two coordinated their countermeasures methodically and notified Douglas, Lucian, and the others in the North.
Massive "raindrops" trailed blazing tails as they hurtled toward Alinsol, blazing with blinding radiance.
At the same time, thick fog rose across Alinsol, making the "Sky City" appear as though it existed in a dream rather than the real world.
One by one, brilliant stars ascended from the mist, forming a vast starry sky around Alinsol. Each occupied its designated position and rotated along its specific trajectory, manifesting as different Magic Circles. These circles layered upon one another until they merged into a single, unified whole—a whole of terrifying power.
This was the final form of the "Alinsol Labyrinth."
The "raindrops" grew ever brighter. A titanic meteorite, ablaze with furious fire, slammed into the misty star field.
The stars shone ever more brilliantly. Ripples rolled through the fog, but the meteorite vanished without a trace.
Countless meteorites-turned-raindrops continued to fall, carrying an aura of world-ending destruction. They hammered the Alinsol Labyrinth's mist into states of contraction and expansion, extinguishing some of the stars within!
Against this purely natural "disaster," Brooke and Heatherveil could have employed their other arcane effects—anti-gravity fields and gravity distortion—which would have rendered the meteor shower entirely harmless to Alinsol. However, that approach would have transferred the destruction onto the earth itself, and nearby lay the densely populated Lontart. So they chose to absorb the impact head-on.
At the edges of the "downpour," meteorites streaked past the Alinsol Labyrinth, falling toward the surrounding villages—falling toward Lontart!
Then, from within the labyrinth's misty star field, a thick, crimson beam of light suddenly shot forth. It condensed without dispersing, arriving before the source, and struck a meteorite dead on.
Without a sound, the meteorite vanished as though it had burned itself to nothing.
Crimson laser beams and ghostly green rays continuously lanced out from within the labyrinth, annihilating every meteorite that might have struck the ground.
The citizens of Lontart had already noticed the city's entire defensive array activate. Stunned, they looked up and witnessed meteors raining down while laser beams pierced through the sky like spears. They were struck speechless by the sight—it was ten thousand times more magnificent and awe-inspiring than any description of arcane warfare in the tales of Bards or in plays!
Even the densest meteor shower could not sustain itself forever. After one final wave, the bombardment gradually thinned. Just as the mages inside Alinsol began to breathe a small sigh of relief, a single meteorite appeared to burn with the very essence of its life. It pierced through the atmosphere, its entire body wreathed in a milky, sacred radiance that illuminated half the sky.
The power contained within this one meteorite exceeded the sum of everything before it. It was the wrath of Heaven—divine punishment!
"Benedict III!"
"Vicente!"
Different names erupted from the mouths of Brooke, Heatherveil, Begner, Oliver, and others. Such power could only come from a being of godlike status—not even the Pope of the Northern Church, who could invoke Divine Favor, could produce anything like this!
"Elemental Aegis!"
"Geomagnetic Collapse!"
"Annihilation Sphere!"
"Anti-Gravity Field!"
……