Chapter 210: The ‘Third Magic’, Gathering Fuel for the Spell
"Huh?"
Arthur stared at Cattleya in shock. Her tagging along was not part of the plan at all!
"Is there a reason I can’t?"
’I’m scared that you may understand the inscriptions on the spell circle and realize the dangers of the spell. That’s why I can’t let you come along!’
-Is what he thought, but obviously, he could not say that. He could only force a smile while telling her that there wasn’t any reason.
Arthur called Larry and told him not to worry as Cattleya was personally going to be taking him to the location, he then bade Layla and Esna goodbye for now before the light of teleportation from Cattleya’s magic surrounded him.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Cattleya? Weren’t you supposed to come over with that drifter?"
"Mum isn’t really on the best terms with drifters right now, besides she offered to take me. That’s a lot better than owing Larry another favour."
Hades was waiting for Arthur at the location agreed on beforehand with Lewis and his three cousins. Lute was also there as he had arrived earlier with Hades. Upon Arthur’s arrival, he was surprised that Cattleya came with him and not Larry but didn’t really care either way.
"Lewis, Phil, is everything set?"
"Has been for months now, we ran routine checks too and we confirmed everything is okay."
The spell circle for the ’Third Magic’ was ridiculously large, and preparing the area for the spell required various expensive materials and other resources.
However, the true reason for the large spell circle was because of the shape.
The spell circle was pretty much a giant pentagram, inscribed in a circle, alongside four smaller pentagrams inside the large one.
The number of smaller pentagrams was dictated by the number of ’Aspects’ to be accelerated using the spell.
The number of Aspects that could be accelerated was then dictated by the rank of the law crystal core being used, basic-1, low-2, mid-3, high-4, monarch-5.
As Arthur was using a high-rank crystal core, there were four pentagrams inside. That was how the spell circle would form when he had begun casting the spell.
This also meant that he could choose 5 ’Aspects’ of himself to accelerate. The method of casting the spell and the chants changed depending on how many Aspects the caster was accelerating.
"This is still ridiculous any time I see it."
Hades remarked as he looked at the five planets (including the one they were on) that were arranged in a pentagram format just for the sake of the spell.
Various inscriptions were drawn on the surfaces of the sides of the planets that were facing each other so the lines that made up the sides of the pentagram would be easily formed.
"You don’t have the kind of magic needed to cast such a large-scale spell, how will you do it?"
"I don’t need to use my energy at all, the ambient cosmic energy present is the fuel for the spell."
This was the reason why one had to be sub-cosmic to cast the ’Third Magic’, it was a spell that ran on cosmic energy in the first place.
"That’s part of the reason I spent the last 5 months learning cosmic energy manipulation from dad, to increase my skill for this.
It is even better as the realm expedition was postponed to next year."
Arthur pulled off his inter-spatial ring after taking out the memory crystal for the spell and placing it in his pocket while Cattleya was not looking.
He then took off his concealment ring and the other artifacts he had on him.
"What for?"
"So there are no interferences of any kind."
He replied to Hades’ question as he gave the things he took off to Phil. He then stared at the centre of the pentagram and took a deep breath.
Cosmic energy swirled around his body and created a protective layer around him, he then kicked off the ground and into the air with enough force to shatter the earth underneath his feet.
**BOOOM!!
He broke through the sound barrier as he flew up in the sky, intent on leaving the planet’s atmosphere.
’I don’t have the necessary speed required for that, but this is one of the perks of being sub cosmic, I can leave the planet and stay in space as long as I maintain this energy coat around my body.’
As Arthur exited the planet’s atmosphere and went into space, he could not help but marvel at the sight of the myriad of colourful stars in the distance.
’I see it every time I enter a spacecraft but it’s still overwhelming.’
However, he quickly remembered his goal and flew straight towards the centre of the pentagram and floated there.
Lewis appeared right next to him and brought out the law crystal core from his isolated space, replacing the gravity stone with the core.
***RUMBLE!!
The crystal had also been inscribed with various runes so the energy from the spell circle could flow through it and vice versa.
Arthur then stood on the magic circle drawn in the centre of the crystal and turned to Hades who had followed him.
"Okay dad, I’m gonna need you to help me gather the required energy to power up the spell circle, I’d take it from there.’
Even if Arthur was skilled in manipulating cosmic energy, he definitely was not proficient enough to gather enough ambient energy for such a large-scale spell.
That was where Hades came in, if Hades was not around, he had planned to ask Diablo to help him out with it.
Hades had been sub-cosmic for over a hundred thousand years and his level of cosmic energy manipulation was leagues above Arthur’s, as such, it was a walk in the park for him to gather the required energy.
Lewis left the area as his presence could interfere with the spell, leaving Hades and Arthur alone.
’I can hold the energy coat for 55 more minutes, should be more than enough time.’
Arthur thought that as he turned to Hades and nodded, the signal to begin.
**THRUUUMMMM!!!!
Hades nodded in affirmation and spread out his arms, the ambient energies in the areas thrummed wildly as Hades pulled in more cosmic energy to that location.
The increase in cosmic energy concentration in the area also resulted in the increase in the concentration of other energies too. That was a natural process that Hades could not stop, nevertheless, it would not interfere with the spell.
**BZZZZTTTT!!!!
Hades frowned as he heard that sound but seeing as Arthur had already placed both hands on the law crystal, he did not stop the energy-gathering process.
**WAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Soon, the amount of energy in the area could be sensed even if one was in another star system. This was the situation on most of the planets in the nearby Parmis star system.
They were shocked at the large amount of ambient energy that was suddenly gathering at a single point, void beasts and other creatures that traversed the void of space sensed this and moved in their direction.
However;
|Impudent beasts.|
Cattleya’s cold voice rang out as she turned all the beasts to ash with her annihilation, forcing the others to run away in fear.
Lewis and his cousins who were supposed to be in charge of that could only sigh in exasperation upon seeing this.
Meanwhile, Arthur was sweating bullets despite there being no heat in space, he was nervous and the amount of energy Hades had gathered, was actually beginning to scare him.
’Almost there...’
After two more minutes, Arthur shouted out to Hades. The ambient cosmic energy, enabled his voice to travel through space.
"It’s Enough!"
Hades stopped pulling in more cosmic energy upon hearing Arthur’s shout and warped towards the nearby planet that wasn’t part of the spell circle where Cattleya and the rest were on.
Arthur grit his teeth as he poured the cosmic energy into the law crystal core underneath his feet, the inscriptions on it then glowed a multi-coloured light in response.
’50 minutes more, time to begin.’
Arthur began pulling the energy that Hades gathered and pouring it into the law crystal core, this energy then transformed into a multi-coloured beam of light that shot towards the five planets surrounding it.
’Come on Arthur, faster!’
He sped up his actions, as he could not let the energy that Hades gathered, disperse before he was done with powering up the circle.
The inscriptions on the planets’ surfaces then glowed with multi-coloured light as beams of light shot out towards the other planets one by one, slowly constructing the pentagram.
From one of the planets, more cosmic energy than the others was needed, as that was the starting point for the circle that went around the pentagram.
’40 Minutes!’
The giant beam of multi-coloured light shot out from the inscriptions drawn on the planet’s surface and curved towards the second planet in the arrangement, upon reaching it, it started up the inscriptions on that one, which then absorbed the cosmic energy and went on to the next, and like so, the circle had surrounded the pentagram.
Of course, all these were the results of the predetermined commands inscribed on the planets’ surfaces, all Arthur had to do was pour cosmic energy into the law crystal core, and the inscriptions did the rest of the work.
**THRUUUMMMM!!!!!!!
’30 Minutes.’
Arthur sighed as he looked at the time he had left, it took him thirty minutes to power up the spell, some of the energy Hades had gathered dispersed before he could use it but Hades had considered that possibility so he gathered a bit extra to make up for the loss.
**SWOOOSSSSHHHHHH!!!!
Arthur took his hands of the law crystal core and stared at the sight of the giant multicoloured pentagram in front of him.
’You’re finally at this stage Arthur...’
He pulled out the memory crystal and skimmed through the process one last time, checking to be sure that all the words for the chant he had memorized were correct and that the last set of inscriptions he was to draw were all correct.
’Good, now to begin. 27 Minutes left.’
**WAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
The ambient energies trembled as Arthur made a cut in his palm with Celestia, with his silver blood dripping down onto the law crystal core he was standing on.
’Dad noticed the silver blood but didn’t say anything, he didn’t even tell mum about it. I wonder why?
Well, it’s good because I don’t know why my blood turned silver after all!’
The blood dripped onto the inscribed markings on the law crystal with Arthur continually having to keep Celestia’s blade on his palm to prevent his regeneration from kicking in.
The magic circle he stood in lit up with a silver glow as his blood flowed into it. He let go of Celestia and used his other hand to manipulate a bit of cosmic energy, letting it flow into the magic circle.
For a moment, Arthur felt lightning hit the floor beside him but before he could turn his attention to it, the magic circle flickered dangerously.
Arthur turned his attention back to the magic circle and saw that it had stabilized itself, he quickly scanned the area for any anomalies but noticed none.
The next moment, his blood ran cold as he felt the essence of the law of causality converge at a point right beside him.
**CCRACK!
