A massive boulder, easily tens of ters in diater, was plumting from the sky.
To the eye, it appeared to descend slowly, almost lazily. But that illusion was born of its sheer size and distance. In truth, it was falling at a terrifying speed. It was so fast that the air around it seed to scream as it tore through the skies.
Its surface shone with residual mana fluctuations, glowing faintly red-hot from the force of its conjuration. Cracks spread across the asteroid’s surface like veins, and mana leaked from them like a blazing inferno.
And then... silence.
The crowd had gone completely still.
Tens of thousands of people in the arena, Magi and mortals alike, remained frozen on their feet, their wide eyes locked upward.
Ti itself seed to co to a halt.
No one moved. No one breathed.
The spectacle above was too colossal... too final.
Death no longer seed like a distant concept. It was real. And it was falling.
At once, several thoughts erged in Cedric’s mind, creating a whirlwind of panic and tension.
The size of the asteroid is big... far too big for a Rank 4 Spell. Could it be a combined Rank 4 Spell? If so... then how many powerful enemies are we facing?
How did the spell breach through the city’s defensive barrier in the first place?! This... this is impossible!
Can I survive this? Even if I use the teleportation scroll, will I be able to escape the blast radius?
But... what about all these people? What about ? And Yaka?
Suddenly, a deep sigh tinged with disappointnt echoed in the prince’s ears, snapping him out of his stunned reverie.
This voice... it was perhaps more shocking to him than the appearance of the Rank 4 Spell hurtling towards the arena!
And then, the voice spoke, directly addressing him:
"Were you planning on abandoning these people and running away to save your skin?"
Cedric recognized that voice. It was a voice that he hadn’t heard in years—decades even—yet he recognized it almost instantly.
He slowly turned to the source of the voice, his expression marred by shock and incredulity.
Standing beside him was an old man with silvery white hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore flowing robes of indigo and gold that looked simple and ostentatious at the sa ti.
Yet, it wasn’t his appearance that stunned others, but his aura.
This man... he had the natural aura of a ruler!
Cedric’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief as he nearly choked on his words, "L-lord Grandfather?!!"
Not just him, even Yaka and the rest of the guardians surrounding Cedric were shocked out of their minds.
If it wasn’t for the asteroid falling upon them, they would have all kowtowed at the feet of the great Emperor Eritus.
Gerald Acadia did not say a word. He simply stared at his grandson—one of many—with a heavily disappointed gaze.
Strangely enough, he was suddenly reminded of Adam.
If he were in his grandson’s place, what would he do?
Gerald sighed as he shook his head ever so slightly. "Yes..." he muttered under his breath. "He would have surely jumped towards the rock with his staff in hand. Yes, he’s ill-mannered, but he is brave."
He deeply looked at Cedric and added, "That is why he is King and you are not."
Inwardly, he added, And you will never be a true Emperor, too.
The Prince had no idea what the old man was talking about. For all he knew, the old man might have been rambling nonsense.
When death was at the doorstep, it was strange how the human mind functioned. Filtering everything else as noise and illuminating only the path to survival.
Yaka was the first to snap out of the shock. The sudden arrival of the Emperor Eritus had perhaps astounded him more than the incoming asteroid.
"Your Majesty, we... we need to leave!!"
Yaka had a vague suspicion that the asteroid was far powerful than a normal Rank 4 Spell, and it was very likely that it was a combined Rank 4 Spell.
A combined Rank 4 Spell... just how many Magi had co together to create that spell?
Two? Three?
... More?!
Either way, this was extrely bad news for everyone present. Not to ntion that two Magi of Acadia’s direct bloodline were also present.
"Leave?" Gerald Acadia looked at Yaka with an amused expression. "Boy, you seem to have forgotten who I am."
The Emperor Eritus calling an old man like Yaka a boy was strange, but no one corrected him.
After all, the forr emperor was likely twice Yaka’s age.
Gerald had long since crossed the millennium mark, his years stretching well beyond a thousand. In fact, he was nearing the very edge of the lifespan granted by the advancent to the Mana Core Rank.
Under the stunned gazes of the people nearby, Gerald Acadia took a step forward. His back was as straight as an ancient monolith. It seed that even the ravages of ti could not weigh him down.
He slowly raised his hands, starting to weave hand seals. Each movent was deliberate, precise, and unstoppable.
With every gesture, the world seed to respond. Mana coiled around him like a living force, bending to his will.
The air trembled and the ground shuddered.
It was as if the world itself held its breath.
After what seed like forever, but also an instant, Gerald finally finished weaving the long and complex set of hand seals. He slamd his hands against one another, resounding in a booming clap that sent literal shockwaves of energy rippling outward.
He raised his head, coldly gazing at the incoming asteroid with utter disdain. No words left his lips. None were needed. His mana would speak for him.
And then... the Emperor Eritus cast his magic.
Rank 4 Spell: Gerald’s Heavenly Chains!
The world froze. It was as if ti itself had ceased to exist, suspended in a breathless mont.
An eerie silence fell over Ravenfell, so complete that it felt unnatural, as if the city had slipped into the space beyond seconds.
Then... a sound.
Suddenly, every living being in Ravenfell heard the echoing rattle of chains.
Four colossal portals materialized into existence around the descending asteroid, each one crackling with thick mana and aligning with unmatched precision.
From within them, titanic chains surged forth, covered in ancient rust and glowing with arcane runes long forgotten.
They wrapped around the asteroid with the force of judgnt itself.
The very sky shuddered.
And just like that... the asteroid stopped, completely arrested mid-fall, ensnared by the celestial bindings.
The looming shadow of death that had suffocated the arena vanished, shattered by the sheer will of a single man.
The boulder of annihilation now hovered motionless above the Ravenfell Arena, frozen in ti.
But that was not all...
Because just as the Emperor Emritus had finished sealing the asteroid, sothing else stirred.
All across the city, the countless ravens suddenly took flight!
User Comments
0 comments from readers