Throne of Magical Arcana

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

A brutal wind raged, blowing the sand on the Scarlet Plain into the sky. The sun, which had illuminated the earth through the thick dust temporarily, was reduced to the previous dim redness.

Three-headed dogs came, feasting upon the dead demons. Scales gradually grew on their body. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they gulped the corpses as if it were a contest, not even leaving the body parts that were burning. Even the bones had been chewed and swallowed.

That was what Atlant saw when he opened his eyes. He said gently and warmly, “Are you entering the abyss right now?”

He was asking Lucien, Natasha and Malfurion’s operation plan.

Malfurion simply offered to assist Lucien in case of accidents in the abyss, which would’ve worsened the relation between the Congress of Magic and the elves. So, he did not reply and simply looked at Lucien with his green eyes.

Lucien shook his head. “We’ll enter the abyss tomorrow. Let’s stay in Town of the Anonymous today and see if we can notice anything wrong.”

He smiled. “Investigating inside the abyss is one of our final choices. We should consider the abyss as our target without searching the surroundings first. What if the source of the problem is here? I do not want to waste my time. Let’s do things one step at a time.”

“Very well. Then, let’s search for the anomalies in the Town of the Anonymous and the area nearby.” Atlant rather agreed with Lucien.

Malfurion naturally did not have any objection. Having sensed the power of ‘Eternal Blaze’ just now, Lankshear and Selinda fell silent.

As they flew towards Town of the Anonymous, Natasha asked in the telepathic bond, “Why do you want to go to the abyss? Such an adventure is unnecessary… If you are looking for battle opportunities for me, we can wait in Town of the Anonymous for the Demon Lords to attack. It will definitely suffice.”

She knew that Lucien wouldn’t do it for no good reason, so she was rather puzzled.

“The integration of space here is rather similar to one of my thoughts. Therefore, I’m hoping to study it more. Chances are that I will be able to find certain things.” Lucien explained. Looking back at the abyssal gap, he shook his head and said in the telepathic bond. “Integration of space?”

Seeing that Lucien had his own purpose, Natasha nodded her head and did not say anything. She felt that all her cells were refreshed, craving for a battle.

……

Inside Town of the Anonymous.

Mason and Fred paced back and forth on the street, surrounded by adventures who were also waiting anxiously and desperate to leave. None of them intended to become sacrifices of the abyss.

“Boy, stop! You hit me!” In such an ambiance, a brawny man suddenly roared. He had a tattoo of entangled leaves on his bald head. That was the totem of the barbarians from the Dark Mountain Range.

The young man whom he yelled at carried a short bow and held a cold, blue dagger. He raised the dagger angrily and shouted, “Barbarian, shut your mouth, or I wouldn’t mind letting you know how it feels to be frozen.”

Due to the aftermath of ‘Eternal Blaze’ just now, the small street had been crowded with adventures. It was inevitable that they might bump into each other.

“Ass*ole! Apologize, or I will make you one of the anonymous!” The barbarian was so infuriated that his veins and his muscles on his two-meter-tall body were all bulging in a thick, bronze layer of light.

The two of them were about to fight, when a radiant knight’s right hand turned into fire and slashed between them from the sky, resulting in a blackened crack on the earth.

“Quiet!” The radiant knight glared at the two knight-level adventures coldly.

Looking at the trace on the ground, the barbarian and the young man both stepped back and looked at each other angrily, before they turned around and left.

Mason, observing everything from nearby, observed with mixed feelings, “Having been blocked for such a long time, and due to the tide of demons and the death of so many adventures, it seems that everybody is getting agitated. Even the most unimportant thing may lead to a bloody fight.”

Even he had similar feelings that he would like to vent out on someone.

Taking a breath, Fred took a breath and intended to criticize the elves for their low efficiency, because the blockage hadn’t been canceled for such a long time after ‘Eternal Blaze’.

Then, he sensed something and raised his head, only to discover that the sky of the town changed weirdly. The sky which was brimming with bloody dust suddenly ‘fell’. It was low, and dim!

Then, half of the sky became bright, in which erratic light changed all the time and was now and then replaced by obscure darkness, and the other half became dimmer and darker, until all the bloodiness faded away, leaving the deepest, heaviest and most boundless darkness behind!

Inside the darkness, however, stars were shining brilliantly showing weird colors.

Looking at the sight that was as profound as the cosmos and the luminescence fluctuations, Fred was immediately lost. His soul floated away, and he couldn’t sense anything for a long time.

After a long time, when a breeze with the air of blood brushed him, Fred suddenly shivered, only to discover that the sky was back to normal, and the overwhelming dust still blocked the sunlight. No, it was not sunlight but the silver moonlight!

“Was it my illusion…” Fred turned around, only to discover that Mason and the rest of them all stood like statues. The whole Town of the Anonymous was unusually quiet. Even the ferocious dog at the bar did not bark at all.

“No, it’s the projection of a demiplane of a legendary sorcerer…” Mason was also back to himself.

Some rituals that helped knights practice their blood power required communicating with and summoning the power of the demiplanes of legends, like how the ‘Lord’ had to be summoned for the promotion of the clerics in the Saint Truth.

Fred said in a self-mocking smile. “This is the first time that I have seen a legendary demiplane, not counting the Scarlet Plain.”

‘Sovereign of Blood’, the lord of the Scarlet Plain, was a level-two legendary demon. If sorcerers, cultists and knights with special blood powers wanted to hold rituals in terms of blood and slaughter, it was possible that they would summon the power of the Scarlet Plain. Therefore, it was also a legendary demiplane.

“The two Excellencies of the Congress are finally done with their examination.” Mason felt exhausted from the bottom of his head. It was already late at night at this point.

……

In the polluted forest outside of Town of the Anonymous, irregular trees were growing. They were twisted to such a point as if certain kids had made mischief to them. On the rind grew tremendous lumps from which bloody fluids were flowing out hideously and disgustingly.

“This is a forest that was polluted because it was too close to the abyssal gap, but the influence diminished a hundred meters away, and it’s almost normal two hundred meters from here. The requirement that integration of space is required can barely be satisfied.” Lodell, ‘Hand of Balance’ introduced the only place that possibly matched the parameters of the abyss nearby.

Lucien observed carefully and examined the trees with magic. He then nodded his head. “It can be confirmed that this place has nothing to do with the expansion of the abyssal gap.”

Atlant gave a similar conclusion.

“It seems that we do need to pay a visit to the abyss.” Malfurion was not super interested in the trip. The Will of Abyss was an out-and-out lunatic. Nobody knew what he would do next, not even himself! What if he suddenly decided to blow himself up in front of them? What could they do?

The brainless Will of Abyss scared him more than the Lord of Hell did although the latter was full of schemes.

“The integration of space only just begun. It’s only between the Scarlet Plain and the Stroop forest. Therefore, while this place is affected by the abyss, the abyss will be influenced by the main material world. Having been wounded, it’s impossible for the Will of Abyss to arrive at the Scarlet Plain, no more than he could directly arrive at the main material world.” Lucien explained it to Malfurion based on the ancient sorcerers’ experience.

As he spoke, Lucien turned to Lankshear, Lodell and Selinda and said solemnly. “Some progress has been made regarding the investigation on the corrupted elves. Therefore, I’m obliged to remind you of something.”

The ‘investigation report of day one’, written by Jurisian, Felipe and Heidi, had been delivered to Lucien through electromagnetism messaging. So, he was aware of their suspicion.

“What is it?” Lankshear became solemn, not as egoistic as before.

Lucien briefly introduced it. “There are seven uncanny primeval devils, named after abhorrence, pain and other feelings, in the deepest relic in hell. As long as the corresponding feelings are stifled to a certain point, and a seemingly harmless ritual stimulates them, making them believe in the primeval devil from the bottom of their heart, the seed of devil in everyone’s heart will be awakened and germinate, navigating the said primeval devil to project…”

“…The sorcerers that came with us suspect that the elves were corrupted by the primeval devils…”

“The primeval devils…” The elves had a perfect collection of ancient classics. Therefore, Malfurion soon remembered the tale that was told by different bards after Lucien’s reminder.

He was very grave. If such a monster did exist, it would be much more tricky to deal with than all the Devil Dukes and Devil Counts were.

Lodell, Selinda and Lankshear all repeated the names of the primeval devils. They had never thought that such monsters existed before!

Lucien went on. “When I examined the Town of the Anonymous earlier, I realized that the adventures in the town were rather anxious, pained and uneasy after being stranded here for a long time under the threat of demons. They are already on the tipping point. If this is truly associated with the primeval devils, such an atmosphere can be easily taken advantage of. You must pay attention to it and set them free as soon as possible.”

“Leave this complicated issue to me,” said Atlant.

……

The next day, Lucien, Natasha and Malfurion entered the Scarlet Plain through the abyssal gap.

In Town of the Anonymous, Mason and Fred just got up when they heard the scream down below. A grand knight had been heavily wounded by a radiant knight who lost control of himself. Blood spilled on the ground.

Looking at the dazzlingly red fluids, Mason felt that his eyes had been occupied by them. The veins on his forehead bouncing, he found it impossible to endure the weird and depressing environment anymore.

“No, we can’t stay here any longer!”

He rose abruptly and charged at the elvish guards with Fred.

Back in Nature’s Residence, Jurisian, Felipe and the rest of the investigators looked for Martha under the direction of Iristine.