Chapter 543 The Last King of Verduracliff I
"His kingdom's fall was not only caused by external forces but by a terrible mistake he had made.
They were beset by both internal strife and external threats.
Driven by desperation, he sought to use a 'forbidden' ritual to grant himself immense power, hoping to salvage his kingdom from its inevitable demise.
However, the magic he understood far too little about the kind of magic he had harnessed, and its potency combined with its other unknown characteristics, caused it to spiral out of control and consume the Kingdom.
In the aftermath, he sealed himself within the castle's core to prevent any further intrusion, knowing that if the secret of the spell he had fell into the wrong hands, it'd cause chaos."
Evan stopped right in front of the huge double doors that led to the Throne Hall before turning towards the two of them and concluding.
"What we're after, is that 'Secret'."
[Master, didn't this king try to keep that thing from getting out precisely because it can cause chaos? And you want to bring it out?]
Kayla gave Evan a deadpan stare as she spoke as if questioning his sanity in going after an object that someone persevered in keeping locked away for seven whole centuries.
"It is something that would go a long way in strengthening the combat power of our world to prepare for the inevitable re-invasion of the demons."
Evan pulled out a black cube with intricate etchings over its surface. He funnelled magic power into it and pressed it against the doors, a soft hum resonating through the air as the cube emitted a faint glow.
The patterns on its surface began to shift and rearrange, aligning after a few seconds and releasing a subtle vibration that passed from it and onto the doors, weakening the seal that held it shut for centuries.
Cracks appeared on the thick layer of magic, spiderwebbing outward like fractals and causing ripples across the seal.
It only took half a minute for it to shatter with a resounding crack, allowing the doors to swing open with a slow, deliberate creak, revealing the Throne Hall beyond.
The cube's radiance dimmed, and by the time Evan looked down at his hand, the entirety of the object had dissolved into a fine black dust that now clung to his fingers.
As it had finished the purpose for which he had acquired it in the first place, Evan wasn't worried about its destruction.
He dusted his fingers and took the first step forward, marvelling a bit at how large the room was.
'It's at least the size of a football pitch. The heck kind of Throne hall is this?'
"When you see what it is, you'd understand the reason for my earlier words."
The walls of the Throne Hall that were once adorned with beautiful tapestries, were now draped in their tattered remnants.
Stained glass windows, depicting the Kingdom's heraldry and legends, let in feeble rays of sunlight that cast a glow on the marble floor which was now filled with cracks from the toll of time.
Cobwebs draped corners, with the ceilings and walls now filled with crevices and patches where the stone had crumbled away.
Walking in behind him, Luke scanned the entire Hall with his gaze before asking one very vital question to Evan.
"You said the King used a forbidden magic ritual. Are you perhaps aware of the ritual's nature?"
And in response to his query, Evan only replied with two words.
"World Magic."
The eyes of the other two widened in shock as they were both aware of the existence of World Magic and how dangerous each one of those spells was.
Going from what Evan had told them, whatever 'secret' this king had tried to contain, was most likely the World Magic spell, or a catalyst that enabled one to use it.
If only they knew it wasn't about just one World Magic spell…
Their intrusion into this Hall naturally alerted the existence who had sealed himself within, the last king of Verduracliff.
Seated on the broken down and depilated throne in front of them, his once regal attire was now tattered and his gaze towards them was clouded.
Seeing this, Luke instantly figured that something was wrong with his consciousness and as if Evan read his mind, the boy spoke about that right after.
"Over time, his mind has eroded; his consciousness and sentience are also fading. Right now, he's nothing but a shell, a shadow of his former self—with all his combat experience intact.
That part hasn't faded yet as far as I'm aware."
After saying his piece, Evan grabbed Kayla and blinked to the corner of the Hall; but as if trying to prevent him from leaving, the doors of the Hall snapped shut, a thin magical barrier encasing them right after.
The tattered robe-wearing king now had his right arm stretched out towards the door, showing he was the reason for its sudden sealing.
"Now then, Sir Luke.
I'd leave you to take it from there."
As Evan spoke, Luke silently stepped forward, placing his hand on his sword handle and unsheathing a long, slim, straight and sharp dual-edged blade, made of a strange folded steel-like material and was held by a grip wrapped in high quality, ruby red scaled leather.
The blade had a broad, curved cross-guard, adding just enough weight to make sure the blade sits firmly in its owner's hand and protected those same hands as well.
In response to this, the King slowly rose from his throne, and rising with him was a book that lay on the pedestal beside him.
With a cover crafted from aged leather and a surface etched with intricate patterns that seemed to pulse with a subdued luminescence, its mere presence was one that commanded attention.
Its size was quite imposing too, having thick and voluminous pages that suggested an endless repository of magic. The book's spine was reinforced with bands of tarnished silver that glimmered faintly.
It levitated in front of him and opened up, releasing an aura of pure dense magic power.
The pages on the grimoire turned on their own continuously, before stopping on a particular page which then glowed with a faint brown light.
**RUMBLE!!
The entire Hall began trembling and then the ground suddenly cracked open, revealing a deep fissure that stretched from the feet of the King.
Earth elemental magic power rapidly underground, emerging from the fissure in the form of a giant five-metre-tall golem with a humanoid appearance.
While the fissure closed up underneath it, Luke locked his gaze on the golem's upper torso, about to attack, but Evan's sudden words quickly sent that plan down the drain.
"This golem's 'core' is basically its whole body. You'd have to damage it extensively to stop it from working."
As soon as Evan spoke, the golem's right arm bulged and a ring of Sword Saint.
However—
brown light with rune sigils appeared around it.
Without a millisecond's delay, it punched forward, with so much force that its fist tore a rift through the air on its way towards the Sword Saint.
However—
**SWISH!!
—its entire arm was cleaved off cleanly with a single slash from Luke's blade.
Even so, before the man could pull back his arm, magic power condensed at the golem's stump, regenerating it while the severed arm seamlessly melded back into the ground.
'That's not good.'
Such a thought ran through Luke's head as he jumped back to avoid the golem's retaliation punch that for some reason, did not blast the ground apart even though it carried enough force to flatten an entire block.
**FLIT-FLIT-FLIT-FLIT!!!
Hearing the sound of the pages of the grimoire turning once more, Luke quickly roused his energy and infused it into his blade.
In the next second, the entirety of the Throne Hall was filled with countless two-ringed brown magic circles, all facing towards the still airborne Luke.
'Earth Magic: Earthen Rain.'
Dozens of spiked earthen projectiles cascaded towards him like a torrential downpour, converging on his airborne figure.
But the Sword Saint's arm blurred, and within a second, half the projectiles were sliced apart and turned into chunks of rocks falling to the ground.
His energy-infused blade was swung once more, transformed into a blazing arc of white light that sliced through the incoming projectiles.
Each collision erupted in a burst of sparks and earthen fragments, and by the time gravity called his feet back to the ground, they were all destroyed.
The Golem, however, was waiting for him as it swung its arm in a wide arc, aiming right for the Sword Saint.
At the same time, the King rose his left arm, condensing earth-attributed magic power into the form of a spear. It flipped around three times, its size and power increasing with each flip before shooting through the air and towards Luke.
"Pyro Hazard."
Luke swung his left hand, launching a stream of flames across the ground and using it to draw a line of scorched earth in front of him.
A wave of bright red flames surged forward and swept towards the incoming earthen spear, engulfing it and turning it into molten rock in a second.
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