Free Web NovelChapter 442: Chapter 439: Super Tier Magic
Kano began to chant an obscure spell, and the gem he carried shimmered with iridescent light.
When an individual is accelerated to the absolute limit, from the caster’s own perspective, it’s as if the surrounding time has stopped. This is one of the pinnacles of the Transformation System, the Ninth Ring Spell: Time Stop.
From Kano’s perspective, everything had stopped, even the electric arcs released as the Transmuting Dust and the barrier consumed each other. He had to move, to press forward. The real and illusory things around him became viscous and blurry. The barrier, the Ethereal Membrane, and spacetime merged, fusing into one under the catalytic effect of the Transmuting Dust.
Kano was now briefly detached from his original world and spacetime, as if enveloped in a soap bubble shimmering with iridescent light, sliding outside the blended spacetime of the Prime Material Realm and the Star Realm.
The process lasted only an instant. It was the shortest Time Stop Kano had ever cast, so brief his brain couldn’t fully register what had happened. Inside his body, the Magic Power for the spell was still flowing and vibrating according to the predetermined spell model.
But everything was different. He had left reality and returned, but now he was in the Star Realm, at the very top of the Transformation Dust Layer Flow. Tiny crystalline particles were scattering into the boundless, empty Void. Behind Kano, a wake was dragged along, mixing with the distorted spacetime and the residual power of the blue barrier, forming a rainbow bridge that spanned from the earth to the stars.
The magical environment had now returned to normal, no longer severely interfered with by the chaotic Divine Power. Master Kano’s form began to change. His facial features faded away, and his body grew transparent enough to reflect the Starry Sky. This was to adapt to the Star Realm’s environment; he had temporarily altered his form to avoid the negative effects of low gravity, lack of oxygen, and other factors.
Only now did he finally have the leisure to observe his surroundings.
In front of him were a few bright, prominent planets. Farther behind, the depth of field seemed compressed, and other celestial bodies were Mapping onto it. That, it was said, was the boundary of the Prime Material Plane—the legendary Crystal Wall.
And on the Crystal Wall was an even more vast and magnificent sight: a band composed of dense celestial bodies, surrounding the brightest star cluster. According to mythic epics, within it lay the "End of the Stars."
Behind Kano, he was already far from the first obstacle. Looking straight ahead, the Transformation Dust Layer Flow hadn’t changed the shape of the land; he could still see a beautiful planet. The view, however, seemed to suffer from severe chromatic aberration. Only when Kano observed the edges could he see the colorful arc traced by the layer flow.
"Heh, an incomparably beautiful cage..."
But he hadn’t come on this journey to admire the scenery. His form changed, the Great Mage now like a humanoid silhouette of the starry sky, and he began Casting again. The scene around him shifted, centered on the Caster. Nearby starlight receded and retreated, while new brilliance gathered and rose... Distance lost its intuitive meaning. A dense river of stars passed through the Crystal Wall, and the "End of the Stars" revealed its true face.
Cold white and black celestial bodies spun in silence. From the matter and energy they consumed and expelled, an inverted tree was born.
This was Kano’s "ambition"—to ascend to the Original Layer. He admired the Tree of Law, his breathing growing heavy.
The Divine Spirits had vanished. Of the former forbidden land and the barrier to intelligent life, only the Transformation Layer Flow remained. Now, he had finally entered this place to witness the source of all magic, the repository of the many Original Scriptures.
Today was merely a grand beginning. Kano had always pondered how the loosely organized Magic Guild could become a truly powerful transnational organization.
In the past, the Guild was indeed powerful in the eyes of the Lords. However, it was extremely loose and non-binding for Casters themselves. Thus, when the situation changed, the Guild would Split as it was doing now, even facing a crisis of being a guild in name only.
The answer to transforming it was right here.
’If every trace of Casting could be observed, then...’ Although his recent observations of the "National Assembly" had made Kano hesitate and doubt the establishment of power structures, the existence of the Tree of Law and today’s attempt to enter the Original Layer offered a certain possibility, a kind of cornerstone.
’There isn’t much time left. I’ll make one last check against the records in the ancient texts...’ He spurred his Magic Power again, preparing to cast Time Stop for a second time.
Although Kano was already in a weakened state, the Original Layer had its own peculiarities. Kano felt his Casting process was nothing short of perfect, and a strong premonition told him that if he succeeded, the effect of the Ninth Ring Spell would also reach the pinnacle of perfection.
At first, the main trunk of the inverted Tree of Law and the nodes on the first few rings were already highly active, reflecting Casters all over the world activating their Magic. Naturally, the Casting process corresponding to the Great Mage couldn’t be discerned. However, at the High Tiers, the illuminated nodes became increasingly scarce. As the preparations for Time Stop neared completion, the nodes being lit up, level by level, became clearly distinguishable.
Casting successful. A perfect Time Stop would Exile the Caster himself, letting him break away from his current timeline and spatial membrane...
Just as the Casting neared success, information contained within the Original Layer flooded into Kano’s mind, making him break out in a cold sweat. He hastily stopped the spell and his movements. The flowing light along the node links of the Tree of Law collapsed in response.
But his goal had been achieved. He had verified the feasibility of observing the Tree of Law to monitor all Magic worldwide.
"Hm?" Suddenly, a very remote offshoot caught Master Kano’s attention. That bough was completely different from the Tree of Law’s other brilliant branches. It had only two kinds of light, two kinds of aura, transforming into one another: decay and new life.
’The Natural System? No, it could also be Necromancy... Tier One, Tier Two...’ Kano’s pupils dilated.
Eight, nine, ten, eleven. Starting from a Zeroth Ring Trick, that meant it was a Tenth Ring Spell.
Magic that surpassed the Ninth Ring was being prepared for casting! And it was suspected to be Necromancy!
...
「In the outskirts of Valuva, at the "Ground Station" converted from a secret test site.」
"Contact lost for eleven minutes. Prepare to energize the Teleportation Array and initiate a Forced Recall of Master Kano." Caroline gave the order in advance, based on the Teleportation Array’s preparation time.
Poincare stared at the instrument used to communicate with Kano. Its core was a pair of Twin Crystal Stones. One was with Kano, while the other was connected to an electrical current. The Crystal Stone on Master Kano would vibrate periodically, and through action at a distance, defects in the crystal lattice of the Ground Station’s stone would synchronously shift, creating a disturbance in the current.
This disturbance disappeared in the second minute after launch. It returned at 2 minutes and 11 seconds, then vanished again at 2 minutes and 16 seconds, and had been silent ever since.
At the Ground Station, Snow, Poincare, and the others had all their attention fixed on that instrument, when Caroline, acting as the "commander-in-chief," suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder.
"Shh, don’t make a sound."
"Rorschach?"
The two were using a Communication Skill supported by the "Spell Cloud."
"I told you I’d come find you after I finished things over there," said the invisible Rorschach, concealed by Mirror Flower Water Moon. He continued, "If the Master doesn’t come back, adjust the Teleportation Array’s parameters and send me to the ’Boundary Land.’ I’ll go find him."
"Okay. Be careful." At this moment, Caroline placed her utmost trust in the young man.
As expected, the first "Forced Recall" failed.
Caroline was the person in charge, appointed by her teacher. She proposed to personally correct the parameters and try again.
After energizing and releasing, the Teleportation Array remained silent. "Still not working?" Poincare’s brow furrowed deeply. Snow had already drunk his fourth bottle of Concentrated Purple Potion, and still, Kano had not returned.
The words had barely left his mouth when a rift suddenly appeared above the Teleportation Array, and a fat old man, not yet fully recovered from his Star Realm form, came tumbling out.
His first words stunned everyone, including Rorschach, who had also quietly tumbled out of the rift: "There’s a Necromancer preparing a Super Tier Magic!"
