Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Chapter 427: Chapter 89: Wind, Thunder, Water

「The Holy City.」

Atop the altar, the solemnity and pride of the coronation had vanished from the Cardinals’ faces, replaced by nothing but boundless fury.

"Damn it! Weren’t those Wizards under the Sanctuary trapped by Noe VII? How could the passage have been opened!"

"It was the tolling of the bell and the eruption of that evil sigil! The energy resonance disturbed the planar barrier!"

"And what about Noe VII? What the hell was he doing in there? He couldn’t even hold a single passage!"

"What’s the use of talking about that now? We have to seal the rifts immediately! The consequences will be unimaginable otherwise!"

Above the ruins of the Sanctuary, spatial rifts stretched like hideous wounds, tearing apart the azure sky.

Dark violet and ghastly white light flickered wildly within them.

Through the rifts, the image of a boundless, milky-white sea of clouds grew ever clearer, as if another world was impatiently stretching its tendrils into our own.

Pope Ete I’s expression was glacial.

"Adrian."

Adrian, his face a mixture of shock and fury, immediately stepped forward.

"Holy Throne."

Ete I said,

"Immediately gather all available forces. Close those rifts, at any cost. The Sanctuary must not fall, and we cannot allow anything inside to escape."

"Yes, Holy Throne!" Adrian answered without hesitation, turning to bellow, "Ambrosius! Organize all High-tier Clergy at once! Construct the Holy Barrier and use all your power to stop the rifts from spreading! Templar Order, half your men will reinforce the Sanctuary—let nothing escape! The rest of you, continue to purify the defilement in the square!"

The orders were relayed swiftly.

The large numbers of High-tier Clergy who had gathered in and around the square for the coronation immediately sprang into action.

They rushed toward the Sanctuary ruins and began to chant. Holy Energy surged from them like a tide, weaving together above the ruins in an attempt to form a web of light to cover the rifts.

Across the sky above the Holy City, the radiance of the Magic clashed violently with the unearthly light of the Plane Rifts, producing a deafening roar. The turbulent Energy even caused some of the common faithful standing nearby to lose their footing.

Adrian himself levitated in mid-air at the edge of the ruins, wielding his Scepter to guide the immense Holy Energy.

Under the combined efforts of the numerous High-tier Clergy, the largest of the spatial rifts began to show signs of contracting, the light at their edges dimming slightly.

A hint of joy appeared on an elderly Archbishop’s face. "It’s working! More power! Force them shut!"

However, just as they were on the verge of success...

VMMMM!

A tremendous hum suddenly erupted from the depths of the largest spatial rift!

In the next instant, all the contracting rifts suddenly swelled to several times their size, as though an invisible, giant hand had brutally pried them open from within!

The edges of the rifts began to twist and writhe frantically, as if they were living things struggling to break free.

Then, a wind... blew out.

It was no ordinary wind.

It was a green wind.

It drifted out from the largest rift like smoke.

It brushed past several Bishops at the edge of the ruins who were straining to maintain the Barrier.

Their bodies instantly stiffened. All color drained from their faces, and their pupils dilated in abject horror.

There were no screams, no struggles. Like wood drained of all moisture and Life Force, their bodies rapidly shriveled and blackened in the space of two or three seconds. Then, they crumbled into fine, grayish-green dust and were scattered by the wind. Not even their clothes were spared, disintegrating into powder along with them.

"No—!"

A nearby Bishop roared in anguish, trying to shield his comrades with Holy Light, but where it touched the green wind, it sizzled, rapidly dimmed, and dissolved.

The wind... continued to spread.

It drifted past the ruins, blowing toward the Defender Knights stationed at the outer perimeter, who were responsible for crowd control and evacuation.

Their sturdy Silver Armor might as well have been made of paper. The sections touched by the wind instantly corroded and flaked away, revealing flesh that just as quickly withered and carbonized beneath.

The Knights turned to dust in silence, without even a chance to raise the alarm.

The wind... continued to drift.

It drifted toward the streets farther out, toward the civilians who had not yet fully evacuated and were lingering at the edge of the square.

A wisp of the green wind brushed against the arm of a mother holding her child.

She watched in horror as her arm instantly went numb, the skin turning a deathly gray as the decay spread toward her shoulder.

With her last ounce of strength, she shoved the child away from her, turning to dust in despairing silence.

The child fell to the ground, wailing, only to be enveloped by more of the spreading green wind...

Death... spread rapidly through this section of the Holy City.

The green wind was like the breath of death itself, greedily devouring all life and matter.

"Stop it! Stop that wind!" Adrian shrieked, his voice cracking with rage and horror.

He and the other Cardinals unleashed even more powerful Divine Magic into the rifts, attempting to sever the deadly green wind at its source, but it had little effect.

The green wind seemed highly resistant to pure Holy Energy, even managing to corrode the Divine Magic itself.

At the same time, a distinct, raspy voice, dripping with unconcealed mockery, echoed from the largest of the rifts that was spewing the green wind.

"Heh heh heh... Noe VII, that old face of yours, always etched with justice and duty—I bet it’s a real picture right now, isn’t it? Did you really think that by guarding the gate, keeping ’evil’ folk like us from ruining the grand coronation your Southern lords so carefully orchestrated, everything would be just fine? What a pity. You might have been able to stop them, but could you ever hope to stop me, Calvin of the Withered Breath?"