Usage
The scarlet crescent of light slashed through the sky. The humongous black monster howled in grief as it disintegrated into black vapour and dispersed.
From the black vapour came Stuart’s voice, full of fear, “A piece of high-grade magic equipment! You actually have a piece of high-grade magic equipment!”
He looked at the crimson earring hanging on Leylin’s ear, his eyes filled with restraining fear and insatiable greed, “I’ll kill you! All of this will be mine!”
‘A.I. Chip, begin resisting the radiation from the curse, and find the source!’ Leylin looked solemn as he secretly gave the command. If it was in the past, such an ancient curse would be highly troublesome to deal with, but with the vast amount of information from the Great Library as his trump card, and the A.I. Chip’s ability to successfully quantify soul force, he had formed a decent database, allowing him to resist.
The same went for the Scarlet Earring. Before he thoroughly understood its origin and functions, he didn’t dare to use it much. However, he had managed to find the history of and a detailed introduction to the Scarlet Earring in the Great Library, including operational instructions. This naturally allowed this piece of high-grade magic equipment to be put to full use.
Most of the magic equipment circulating around the central continent was low-grade. Middle-grade magic equipment was rare, and high-grade magic equipment would make even Radian Moons green with envy!
His ability to use the Scarlet Earring had boosted Leylin’s strength tremendously in one go, especially against things such as suppressive curses like now.
[Beep! Task established, begin projection of soul interference. Searching for source of curse!] The A.I. Chip immediately intoned.
A layer of light yellow light was emitted from Leylin’s body, while the numerous black masks rushed up like moths to the flame.
‘A curse way beyond my expectations! And with such horrifying crippling abilities! It must’ve been cast by a Radiant Moon. I’m 90% sure Zegna is behind this. Who would’ve thought that he had talent in the field of curses...’
An icy glare flashed in Leylin’s eyes. Even he could not deploy such an ancient curse, especially if it was a technique that involved crossing space. This even exceeded the boundaries of what a rank 5 could do!
‘Or maybe... Someone is helping him? An even stronger Magus at that?’ This idea had Leylin face turning darker. Not only did he have to fight against two rank 5 Magi who had joined forces, he had to pay even more attention to as mysterious high-ranking Magus who was spying on him.
“I really underestimated you previously!” Seeing that the black masks attacking Leylin from all sides were decreasing in number, Stuart unexpectedly did not continue attacking him, but instead started to gasp.
‘He actually has a method to resist the ancient curse. He may be at the peak of a Morning Star formally, but his strength is comparable to that of a Radiant Moon Magus! And he even possesses a piece of high-grade magic equipment! If I had known all this earlier, I wouldn’t have taken action even if Zegna multiplied his remuneration by tenfold!’
No matter how he felt, Stuart was a Magus after all. After his rage had subsided, he regained his senses and grew rational.
However, Leylin had a rather bad feeling about Stuart’s calm and straightforward manner of speaking.
“What a pity... Since the seeds of hatred have already been planted, I will not allow them to take root and germinate!” Stuart looked at Leylin with a profound look in his eyes, “If I cannot make you fall today, the day you advance to rank 5 will be judgement day for me! Even the Monarch of the Skies will not be able to save me...”
Leylin was silent, and didn’t say much. Indeed, his enemy understood him best. Once he had sufficient strength in the future, he would definitely return for revenge and even eliminate him completely. He was not the only one who thought of this, as Stuart had as well. Neither of them tried to conceal it.
“So you must die here today, lest I be destroyed and return to the astral plane!” Stuart was resolute. Bizarre undulations appeared on his body, and the rings of light representing his five innate spells flickered into existence behind him. Even spacetime seemed to have been frozen at that moment.
“A Radiant Moon Arcane Art?!” Leylin’s expression was extremely solemn.
Morning Stars, powered by their point masses, could combine their four innate spells to produce the Morning Star Arcane Art, and Radiant Moons could do the same with their five. This terrifying fusion of powers was strong enough to cause massive destruction even at rank 4; how strong, then, would it be at rank 5?
Leylin had never seen a Radiant Moon Arcane Art before, but it was evident that the entirety of Sky City would be hard pressed to survive Stuart’s attack.
If not, he would have long used his Radiant Moon Arcane Art when he was humiliated then. He wouldn’t have been so afraid of the Monarch of the Skies and forced himself to endure for so long before finally taking action now!
This place was rather far from Sky City. Even if the undulations spread to the Sky City, its defence mechanisms and the Magi inside would be able to handle it. Thus, Stuart could go all out without any qualms!
At this moment, Leylin seemed to have seen Stuart’s truesoul through his point mass! His soul was sparkling with the frigid, dazzling radiance of a crescent moon!
‘The superposition of innate spells to form a Morning Star Arcane Art does not result in a simple additive effect. With the introduction of a fifth, rank 5 innate spell, the formidability of a Radiant Moon Arcane Art is definitely exponentially greater. It should be at least ten times as strong, if not more!’
Leylin stared at the fused rings of light behind Stuart, fear rising within him. They were rippling with a bright radiance that seemed like it could destroy the world in one sweep!
“Stuart has really firmed his resolve. He actually dared to show his Radiant Moon Arcane Art in the main world!” Leylin sighed deeply and didn’t go on the offensive directly. While Stuart was casting the Arcane Art, a frightening protective mechanism had automatically formed around him. If he attacked now, he might have to face the dreadful wrath of the Radiant Moon Arcane Art directly!
‘The disparity between our powers is too large. Such a formidable strength is enough to cause my fall!’ Leylin’s face flushed red. ‘The only way now is to....’
He slowly took off the white glove on his left hand, revealing an imprint in the form of a sun that was surrounded by black flames.
[Beep! Curse procedure found. Initializing tracking mode. Source confirmed.] At this instant, the A.I. Chip brought him a piece of good news.
“Might as well settle them together then!” Leylin’s eyes glistened as he rushed towards Stuart...
......
Sky City.
“What does that mean? Didn’t Leylin obtain an agreement of neutrality from the Monarch of the Skies in exchange for the coordinates of the Lava World and his outstanding strength that could match a Radiant Moon’s?” Weyers gazed at his elder, puzzled.
The Radiant Moon Magus, however, shook his head. Weyers could even detect a bitter smile at the corners of his lips, much to his astonishment.
This elder of his was relatively strong among the Radiant Moon Magi, so why would he have such an expression? Could it be that Leylin’s strength had already grown to the extent that even he felt helpless?
Weyers shook his head firmly, as though trying to expel this thought from his brain. He didn’t consider that the more he did this, the deeper this conjecture took root in his mind.
*Rumble!* Horrifying vibrations were transmitted over, accompanied by dazzling white light.
“This is... a Morning Star Arcane Art? No! An energy undulation more terrifying than a Morning Star Art... Could it be Leylin?” Weyers lifted his head, gazing at the bright flames in the distance with a glint in his eyes.
“Stuart could not control himself in the end!” The Radiant Moon Magus sighed deeply, then said to Weyers, “You’re lucky to be able to witness a Radiant Moon Arcane Art in the main world; and even other, greater things!”
“Greater things?” Weyers was rather confused, but soon after his mouth dropped agape in shock.
What did he see? A sun! An existence from ancient times, a boundless sun that was incomparably vast! It suddenly eclipsed the radiance of the Radiant Moon Arcane Art.
The degree of heat and undulations of heat waves emitted by it struck terror in his heart. Weyers knew that even a thread of those flames was sufficient to seriously injure or even kill him!
Under the rays coming from this sun, the white radiance of the Radiant Moon Arcane Art popped like a bubble. The corona had grown enormous and still continued to expand, quickly spreading to the outskirts of Sky City.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Numerous defensive spell formations shattered one by one. Terrifying golden-red heat rays intruded into the place, and it was as though the sky had disintegrated and the sun had fallen. Many buildings collapsed as the entirety of Sky City descended into chaos.
“Ah...” Weyers’ jaw hung open. He had never imagined that Sky City, which had always been incomparably stable and never experienced a single tremor, would waver like a small sailboat in the stormy seas under such a horrifying attack, facing destruction and death at any moment.
Under the dreadful might of a rank 6 spell, even Sky City, the most academic progress in the entire central continent, was on the verge of collapse!
The humongous floating city wobbled violently in the storm of pure gold flames, seemingly about to fall apart any moment!
“This cannot do! We must escape as quickly as possible, and be far away from the range of this spell. This is utterly terrible...” Weyers murmured to himself.
Just as his defence mechanism could hold no longer, a hand landed on Weyers’ back, stabilising him instantly.
“Don’t panic! We still have our lord! The Monarch of the Skies will not sit still and allow the fall of Sky City!”
The words of the Radiant Moon Magus seemed to have a strong reassuring effect, allowing Weyers to recover from his previous state. Still, the shock in his pupils did not fade for a long time.
“That spell... Is it... No! That’s no longer a spell! It’s the law! The law of fire!” Weyers had never acted like this before. Never had he felt that he was so immensely insignificant and powerless. The disparity between him and Leylin was huge.
*Chirp!* Spotless white feathers floated down like snowflakes, accompanied by pleasing chirps. They firmly wrapped around the entire city, blocking out the flames.
With the assistance of this strange force, Sky City started to regain its stability.
“It’s the Monarch of the Skies! He has made a move!” The Radiant Moon Magus gasped.
The numerous Magi in the Sky City kowtowed devoutly in the direction of the Drifting Garden, expressing their gratitude to the monarch for saving their lives.