Throne of Magical Arcana

Around ‘Saint Ivan’, ‘Aleksy’, ‘Uriel’, ‘Felix’ and the ‘angel of light’ appeared one after another. They had arrived earlier than Douglas, Fernando and the other legendary sorcerers, but they never entered it.

Belkovsky, what are we going to do?” Aleksey addressed ‘Saint Ivan’ with the name of Belkovsky, the current pontiff in the north. He talked as if he were equal to the guy.

The gold eyebrow of ‘Saint Ivan’ was furrowed, and his blue eyes that carried certain yellowness observed the grey pathway behind the Furnace of Souls carefully. He said, “I suspect that the monster is still inside. Also, without the pattern of coordinate changes left by Maskelyne and Viken, there is no telling where to go and where to find them at all. We can only try our luck.”

He was somewhat scared, as if he had encountered certain things when he explored the entrance earlier. He dare not take the risk even though he could perform God’s Grace.

“Then, should we relocate the Room of the Holy Spirit first?” The eyes of ‘Felix’ were also focused on the grey pathway. He did not look at the entrance that was enshrouded in the illusionary ripples at all, as if he were not interested in what was inside.

After a brief silence, ‘Saint Ivan’ said, “However, I suspect that the Congress of Magic dared to explore the Temple of Spirits because they found Maskelyne’s or Viken’s last belongings. After all, Viken’s nest was on the border of Holm, and Hathaway was there when the Grand Cross lock was broken. If they find the items of those legendary sorcerers and learn how to enter the ‘Chamber of Immortality’, the dream of all the saints in history will never be fulfilled.”

As he talked, he glanced at the pathway that was enshrouded by the illusionary ripples.

Before ‘Uriel’ and the rest of them talked, ‘Ivan’ continued, “So, Mikhail and I will go in, and you will relocate the Room of the Holy Spirit. He’s a projection based on Geno’s item of godhood. It won’t be a problem even if he dies inside. As for me, I’m strong enough to return safely.”

Mikhail was the ‘angel of light.’

“Alright, Belkovsky, don’t be careless. We don’t know exactly what Maskelyne and Viken encountered yet and why they never came out.” ‘Uriel’ said in a low voice.

He wasn’t so sure that Maskelyne was already dead. After all, the further one pressed into the Temple of Spirits, the weirder the flow of time would be. One day at the edge equaled five days outside, and one day around the Furnace of Souls equaled to approximately a week. It should be terrible inside. Although those legendary sorcerers had been missing for a thousand years in the world outside, they probably had only lived a hundred years inside the ‘Realm of Gates’.

Ivan smiled. “What happened to them must be beyond our imagination. We cannot determine their status even though we prayed and performed prophecy with their personal items. However, the people of the Congress of Magic are leading the way for me. I’ll be able to exit in time should there be any danger.”

After a brief discussion, ‘Ivan’ and the ‘angel of light’ passed the Furnace of Souls and entered the grey pathways, and the saints including ‘Aleksey’ returned to the Room of the Holy Spirit, in case the reinforcements of the Congress of Magic traced back to them.

The Furnace of Souls resumed the previous silence. At this moment, the Lich King, with the weird gems spinning around his head, appeared from the wall and stared at the entrance that Lucien and the rest of them entered.

After a while, a transparent ghost flew in. He was wearing a black robe that had glamorous, red patterns on it. “You’re not going in?”

Judging from his attitude and his tone, it was not hard to tell that he was equal to the Lich King. He was exactly the Wraith Lord, another dominator at the peripheral area of the Temple of Spirits.

“I will never make it out if I go in.” Said the Lich King in a hoarse voice. His previous fury after Lucien broke in had died down.

The Wraith Lord said with an unpredictable voice. “Are you not scared that the Lord will punish us after he wakes up?”

By the lord, he was clearly referring to the mysterious existence of the World of Souls.

“Hermes and Crosos are tracing them. We need to stay on alert in case more enemies break into the temple.” The needle-like redness was flashing coldly in the Lich King’s eyes.

The Wraith Lord floated. “Yes. Now that Chilaps has been killed by the enemy, the defense at the periphery will be too weak if we also go in.”

The two legendary specters looked at each other and hid around, waiting for the ‘survivors’ to come out from inside and taking precautions against other experts who might break in.

…

The dome was grey, the floor was grey, the wall was grey, the torches were grey, and the fire on them was also grey. Lucien could not see any other colors except from himself, as if he had come to an unreal world.

Having no time to examine why the fire kept on burning, Lucien flew forward in a hurry. After a few seconds, he saw a closed black gate, which was particularly eye-catching in the world of greyness.

Compared to the magnificence of other parts of the Temple of Spirits, the black gate which was only 2.5 meters tall made Lucien feel very close, as if he were back to Holm.

After examining the gate in a hurry and detecting no traps, Lucien opened it with a spell.

As the black gate was slowly opened, the grey hall inside entered Lucien’s eyes. Except for three black gates in the three corners, there was absolutely nothing. It was dim and gloomy.

Having no time to consider, Lucien passed quite a few similar halls in a row. He only slowed down when he sensed the change of time and space.

“Those grey halls are too weird. They are all empty, and they all have four black gates in the four corners. If it weren’t for the different decorations and pillars, I would’ve thought that I had been in the same hall all the time.” While casting Magic Order, Spell Trigger and other enhancements on himself, Lucien observed the surroundings. He believed that other people would’ve thought that the grey halls were false and the black gates were the only things that were ‘real’.

Recalling the environmental parameters he collected just now, Lucien discovered, to his surprise, that the pattern left by Mr. Maskelyne also worked in this place, which meant that he could always find his back back.

“But the buildings here are changing too frequently, aren’t they? They will change almost every time after I open two gates.” Calculating, Lucien thought and felt it rather strange. Although his safety could be better ensured in such a way, because the Lord of Hell or the legendary spectres might enter wrong halls when they opened the gates again behind him, he might also run into unexpected dangers, because the hall behind the gate could be the one that the enemy was in.

In this place, the prophecy and reconnaissance spells were greatly suppressed.

“I have to be more vigilant.” Lucien cast another bunch of spells to improve his intuitions. In the previous battle, the three times of ‘Advanced Time Stop’ in his Moon Timer had been used up, and there was only one ‘Gravity Collapse’ left. The ‘Elemental Protection’ from the Robe of Grand Arcanists and the ‘Undead Rampart’ from the Congus Ring had also been used up. In other words, other than transforming into a legendary knight to pick up the Shield of Truth, the legendary defense he could use was only the Space Staff. “I need to find a place to crack the crown of the Primordial Mummy. The more legendary items I have, the safer I will be.”

The hall was only five ‘gates’ away from the entrance. Lucien was not very relieved. So, he picked a random black gate and opened it after careful examination.

In the vague greyness, Lucien suddenly captured a flashing silver light. Alarmed, he immediately spread out his spiritual power.

The grey hall was still quiet, but there was the residue on the floor after a magic circle was used.

The materials of the magic circle were already gone, and the only things left were silver, complicated traces. They were both sacred and scary, as if they were the foulest things in the world. The feeling was very similar to how the pathway impressed him.

“A magic circle that Mr. Maskelyne used? One that I’ve never seen before.” Lucien recorded the residue in his spirit library and searched, only to find no relevant information. It seemed that he would have to crack it from scratch if he wanted to know what it was about. Also, since only part of the traces were left behind, reverse analysis could be highly difficult. Lucien did not know when he could complete it.

After recording the residue, Lucien observed it in general and suddenly discovered that the magic circle constituted the corner of a hexagram.

The hexagram was the most fundamental magic pattern that originated from reproductive worship. Then, it was greatly improved by the ancient sorcerers based on the patterns of the magic creatures. It showed the integration of the body and the soul, as well as the interference of spiritual power on the material world.

“Are there six similar magic circles? But what are they for?” Lucien did not want to stay in this room that was exceptionally creepy. Since the residue had been recorded, he flew to a black gate in a different direction.

Right then, Lucien discovered broken pieces below a grey pillar, so he picked it up carefully with Mage’s Hand.

“A fragment of a parchment? A special parchment that has been processed by magic?” Lucien recognized what the broken piece was. Only the parchment processed by magic could’ve survived years in such an environment without rotting.

There was only one bold word on the grey fragment: “Devil!”

“Devil?” Lucien repeated the word that was written in the language of the ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire. Normally speaking, the word denoted two meanings. Firstly, it referred to the creatures in hell; secondly, it referred to all the dangerous and terrible things in general. “Which does it mean?”

While he considered, Lucien searched the hall carefully again but found nothing else. Therefore, he flew to the black gate as he previously planned and examined it carefully.

The black gate blocked the two halls. Until he opened it, Lucien’s spells and magic could not reach the other side of the gate. Therefore, he had to be very prudent. Lucien also made up his mind that he would definitely bring a black gate back for studies when he left, as any arcanists would’ve done.

After his spell, the black gate moved backwards slowly, and a shadow was suddenly reflected in Lucien’s pupils!

Black shirt, red coat, silver long hair and eyes, and a cluster of dark red stain of blood before his chest. He was filled with a weird sense of beauty.

“Mr. Rhine?” Lucien blurted out, slowing down the spells that were ready to be launched.

Rhine, who was leaning against a grey pillar lazily, put on a smile: “Hi, Lucien, we have met again.”