"Oh, it's a Dinsional Rift."
"Wait…there's a rift here?"
Evan was surprised to learn of a rift existing in a region recently controlled by the Aramisians and Arthur assured him it was true.
The group paused to discuss this unexpected find—similar to the rift used by demons to enter Aramis—and finally decided to investigate the rift, driven by their collective curiosity.
Descending deeper into the ruins, they navigated winding corridors and ancient traps until they reached the lowest floor.
The air there was thick with dense spatial power, a faint hum reaching their ears from the rift up ahead.
They entered a vast, do-shaped hall with towering stone walls curving into a high ceiling. At the far end, a Dinsional Rift pulsed with a purple glow, bound by intricate seals.
Blocking their path to the rift was a monstrous figure seated on a broken stone throne.
The creature stood ten feet tall, with six muscular arms ending in deadly claws. Its mottled grey skin was covered in patches of chitinous armour, glowing red eyes radiating malevolence. Two massive, bat-like wings sprouted from its back.
It gave off 'Demonic' vibes, but couldn't be anything further from a Demon—it had divinity after all.
"Ha, wouldn't be the first."
Evan muttered this under his breath, the mory of Rezaemon flashing across his mind as he appraised the monster and discerned its level.
"Oh wow. It's Level 739. Interdiate Legendary."
Their Levels were; Arthur-793, Evan-653, Artemisia-647, Beatrix-641.
"Dude, how many monsters did you slaughter while I was fighting Crarox?"
Arthur questioned as he looked at Evan's Level which had even surpassed Artemisia's. From the ti Evan arrived on Aramis to now, it had been 47 days—and Evan had gone up by 77 Levels.
"Dunno…thousands of them?"
Evan had focused on farming as much EXP as possible, not caring how many enemies he killed—thousands would be an understatent.
His recent participation in the War on Plomux explained the extra levels, but even with that power, it wasn't enough to take on the Legendary Realm creature before them.
Even with Artemisia and Beatrix helping, it'd be a tough fight.
Why was Evan even considering a battle when Arthur was present? Because Arthur showed no desire to move an inch.
[GRAAAAAAARGHH!!!]
The creature roared, locking eyes on the group, and began forming a destructive energy ball with its lower arms, ready to attack.
[YOU SHALL NOT PASS!]
The creature declared its intent with a powerful stomp, sending shockwaves that knocked the trio back.
As they prepared for battle—Evan with his sword and shield, Artemisia with her sword, and Beatrix with her staff—Arthur finally intervened.
He raised a hand to halt them, shouting
"Wait!"
"???"
The confusion on their faces was clear, but Arthur ignored their silent questions. Instead, he focused intently on the monster gathering energy, calmly saying.
"Let him cook."
"Pfft…BAHAHAHAHA!!"
Evan burst into laughter, dropping to one knee while clutching his stomach. His allies and the Level 739 monster stared at him, bewildered. Sensing their confusion, he explained.
"Haha…dude, you have no idea…
It hadn't been long since I did the exact sa thing to my companions when we were faced with an opponent…"
Evan recalled stopping Laurene from interrupting a Senior mber's spellcasting during the attack on the Demonic Hand bases near Wechil to say the sa phrase.
Hearing his words, Arthur instantly understood.
"You told them to 'Let them cook'?"
"Damn right, I did."
Evan replied, and Arthur joined in the laughter, while the two girls watched in incredulously, sharing a thought.
'What is wrong with these boys?'
Eventually, their laughter subsided, and they turned to the monster, which looked just as confused as before.
""You done cooking?""
[?!]
The mirth in their eyes as they asked this was unconcealed, and noticing it, the monster's forehead twitched.
'These humans are making fun of !!'
It unleashed a surge of power, igniting its wings in flas and forming two massive swords from the ambient destruction law energy.
At this sight, Evan and Arthur exchanged amused glances, their voices laced with sarcasm as they spoke one after the other.
"Wow, he's using fire, isn't he?"
"Definitely. And that thing he's controlling…surely it's not destruction law energy?"
"News flash, it is."
Their laughter returned, and this ti, Artemisia and Beatrix shared in the humour.
Evan possessed sarthim, a Unique Series Fla Skill, while Arthur wielded a Pseudo-Authority of Destruction, with an affinity so strong that it seed the law itself was enamoured with him.
To face an opponent using their very powers was absurdly funny to them.
The monster, infuriated by their mirth, unleashed its destructive might. Two orbs of flas shot toward them, sizzling as they moved, followed by the creature charging with swords raised high, ready to cleave them in two.
Arthur's laughter ceased abruptly, replaced by a cold focus.
"Alright, that was fun while it lasted."
He spoke, and suddenly, the world turned monochro, freezing everything in place. With a wave of his hand, he used gravity law energy to deflect the two orbs toward a side wall.
Raising his hand in a knifehand gesture, he brought it down in a slashing motion.
Ti resud, and the redirected orbs crashed into the wall, exploding with enough force to obliterate half the temple and extend the destruction into the city beyond.
The monstrous creature remained frozen, swords still raised overhead in disbelief. Seeing it still, Artemisia raised an eyebrow at Arthur and asked.
"You're not attacking?"
Her response ca not from Arthur, but from Evan.
"What do you an, Artemisia? He has already attacked."
"…what?"
Confused, Artemisia glanced at Beatrix, who mirrored her confusion, realizing only that the monster was no longer frozen in ti.
Suddenly, a silver line of light appeared on the monster's forehead, extending down to its crotch.
Silently, its body split apart into two halves, blood and viscera spilling onto the ancient stones.
"…"
The hall fell silent, interrupted only by the crackling remnants of the explosion and the soft hum of the Dinsional Rift.
In that mont, it beca clear to everyone why Arthur had been so disinterested in fighting earlier—he could eliminate the monster with a single, unexplained attack.
Artemisia opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, her vision blurred, and a wave of nausea washed over her. Beatrix experienced a similar reaction, clutching her head in pain.
This sensation was familiar; they had encountered it before while trapped in an underground dungeon with Arthur months prior.
They quickly identified the cause: Arthur's blood. Looking at Arthur's hand, Artemisia noticed drops of silver blood spilling from his fingertips.
"I guess, using the Law of Extinction's power with my bare body is not a good idea."
He remarked casually, shrugging as he flicked his fingers, rewinding ti and alleviating the two goddesses' pain.
"Please…don't do that again, Arthur."
"Hmm? Oh, sorry."
Due to his nature as the Progenitor godslayer, his blood was poison to gods. Even the slightest exposure would cause nausea for those weaker than him.
"What are you guys waiting for? Let's find a way to open this thing."
Evan called from the far end of the hall, where he was already holding up the broken throne that the now-bifurcated monster had once occupied.
After a quick teleportation, they stood before the Dinsional Rift, and Arthur placed a hand on his chin, contemplating.
"If I am to use Spatial Break…"
Hearing Arthur's mutter about using Spatial Break, Beatrix flinched at the thought of the devastation it would cause.
She rushed over and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him toward one of the pillars beside the rift.
"Look! Here's a non-destructive way to get in!"
"Oh…we can simply pour spatial magic inside."
Arthur replied, noticing that the pillars were magic receptacles connected to the seal. By channelling spatial magic into them, they could release the seal on the rift.
"Yes, we can do that. This thing's a 'Dinsional Gate', I dread to think of what would happen if you were to destroy it."
She shivered as she spoke, and Arthur just laughed while he crouched in front of the pillar and studied it.
anwhile, Evan glanced in Beatrix's direction and posed a question.
"This is a Dinsional Gate? Mind if I ask if it's possible to control people who go through it?"
"Hmm? If you do imbue a spell into the gate on creation and the Existence Realms of those who co through are lower than yours then it's very possible."
Hearing Beatrix's positive response, Evan placed a hand on his chin and pondered for a few seconds before asking again.
"Let be very specific. Is it possible to use Soul Magic to imbue Soul Marks onto the people who co through the gate so you can control them?"
"…soul marks? Why do you wanna know about forbidden stuff?"
Beatrix's gaze turned wary and even Artemisia who wasn't paying full attention also turned towards him.
"Soul Marks are forbidden? How and why?"
Evan ignored their suspicious gazes and asked this question, to which Beatrix answered with an incredulous tone.
"What do you an 'Why?', you can use that shit to control another person's soul! The root of their Existence! It's stranger if it's not forbidden."
A mont later, she continued.
"Well, it's forbidden on the surface but I'm sure there are people out there who comprehend the laws of life and death just for it."
Her response was one Evan agreed with. No matter how 'restricted' sothing was, there was always soone, sowhere doing it.
"But I'm not sure if Soul and Spatial Magic have good synergy though. Gim a sec, lem ask my mum."
Beatrix pulled out a tablet from her inventory and her fingers literally flew across the screen, almost as if she used ti magic to accelerate her typing speed.
"Okay, so I wanna know about soul magic's synergy with spatial magic and if one can imbue soul magic into a dinsional gate so anyone who passes is inscribed with a soul mark…Done!"
She dictated what she typed and then just before she pressed the enter key, she rembered sothing else.
"Oh and, Arty finally said she loves ."
"Oy! Don't send your mother lies!"
Artemisia snapped her head in Beatrix's direction when she said this, but the other girl had already pressed the send button.
"Can we get to unsealing this thing?"
Arthur's voice rang out before Artemisia could seek retribution and Beatrix imdiately put away the tablet, before rushing over to the second pillar. On the count of three, they began infusing spatial magic into the pillars.
The ground trembled, and a resonant hum filled the air as cracks spread rapidly along the seal. With a deafening crack, the seal shattered, sending glowing stone shards flying.
An arched tear in space appeared, its edges shimring with radiant light as swirling colours danced beyond it, with dense energy gushing out.
"Hmm, that'd be inconvenient."
Arthur remarked, manipulating the ambient cosmic energy to trap the escaping energy and force it back into the rift.
"Let's go in."
Beatrix said, hopping into the rift while Artemisia reached out to grab her and exclaid.
"Silly girl! Don't just enter that thing without checking for safety!"
However, Beatrix suddenly used all her strength, pulling Artemisia inside instead.
Arthur laughed, assuring them he had checked for safety before he and Evan followed them into the rift.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Hmm?"
A sleeping young woman's eyes suddenly shot open, her obsidian pupils darting toward an unseen direction.
"Again?"
She heaved an exasperated sigh, running her hands through her hair before sighing again.
Floating upside down, she flipped to land on the stone-cold floor and then infused magic power into her voice before speaking out.
[Suspected Intruders in the East Forest, go and scout the area.]
"…"
t with silence, her irritation grew and she clicked her tongue before speaking once more.
[You can ignore all you want, but I wonder how you'd ignore punishnt if it gets out that you're the reason a Commandnt was broken.]
"SHUT UP!"
An angry voice retorted, but the woman remained unfazed and continued speaking.
[The intruders seem to be heading down the forest towards the Ritual Site though?]
"?!"
This prompted a shocked reaction from those on the other end of the wall, and monts later, their presences disappeared. Clicking her tongue, she muttered under her breath.
"Fools…"
She glanced at her palm, cursed the imperceptible threads binding her to the land, and internally cursed the one responsible.
◇ ◇ ◇
Unnad Forest
(Iklaque) Dinsional Realm
Plomux-North
May 17th
531st Divine Year
They stepped out of the Dinsional Rift and were greeted by the sight of a breathtaking forest.
Towering trees stretched toward a clear, azure sky, while sunlight stread through the canopy, casting patterns of light and shadow on the forest floor. The vibrant greenery, blooming flowers, and sweet fragrance filled the air, creating a soothing symphony of nature.
"Oh wow, this place looks pretty."
"I agree, 100%."
Artemisia agreed with Arthur's remark, her usual stoic expression softening at the sight, while Beatrix twirled in delight, her white hair catching the light and shimring like silver.
"It's so beautiful!"
As Artemisia knelt to examine delicate blue flowers, noting the magic within them, Evan broke his silence.
"This place reminds of the Garden of the Stars."
"?!!"
"Wait, what?!"
Beatrix and Artemisia snapped their heads toward him, shock evident in their eyes. Beatrix rushed over, grabbing his shirt and asking with a fanatic light in her eyes.
"You've been to the Garden of the Stars before?! The one in the Regal Void Expanse?!"
"…"
Evan, taken aback by her sudden intensity, looked to Artemisia for help, only to realise she was also burning with curiosity.
'That just slipped out unconsciously…'
"…yeah, I have. Is there anything bad about being there?"
"Bad?! Evan, that's sowhere that even indigenes of the Regal Void Expanse can't even get into! It's like a myth!
However, so people have gone there and acquired new powers which they used to dominate their peers on the interstellar stage!
So even gained 'Ultimate Skills'! They're living evidence of the existence of the 'Garden of the Stars'."
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