Throne of Magical Arcana

Benedict III turned around abruptly. With his back against the old cross, he said solemnly, “Let’s begin.”

After a brief hesitation, Saint Kati suggested, “Your Holiness, should we wait for a while longer? Such an attempt is very dangerous. You may be heavily wounded and fall into dormancy even though you are a demigod. Why don’t we have another few minimal simulations? Or we can wait until the Angel King wakes up. He’ll be able to separate you from Monster Viken with God’s Guard at the critical moment.”

What he did not say out aloud was that, if the ritual to gather negative feelings and primeval devils to summon the primeval hell failed, His Holiness might be unable to control Monster Viken anymore after being heavily wounded and that he would even be swallowed. By then, with Monster Viken’s personality, which was close to that of primeval devils, they wouldn’t end well at all. The South Church would definitely fall apart, and even the Congress of Magic and the Dark Congress would suffer destructive strikes.

That was because Monster Viken did not have boundaries or anything that he needed to protect. His sole interest was destruction and corrupting other people. With that in mind, he might attack the magic apprentices, bishops, and arcanists alike without considering the consequences.

Faced with a demigod, only the experts above level three of legendary had a chance to save their lives or stall the enemy. Therefore, unless the other people stayed in Allyn or the Holy City forever, their destiny would be unavoidable. After all, there were few experts who could protect them.

Kati’s concerns were exactly what was on the mind of most Grand Cardinals. However, before they said anything, Benedict III already said slowly but peacefully, “I’m very confident about it, and I have to thank Lucien Evans for his remarkable contributions to the studies of the observer effect.

“Let’s begin. After I overcome the insidious problems and I’m no longer restrained by Monster Viken, I’ll be the strongest demigod under the Lord. With the help of God’s Arrival, all the enemy forces will bend before us!”

He did not mention destroying the Congress of Magic or the Dark Congress because all the Grand Cardinals knew that the organizations protected by demigods would never really die until the demigods perished. Their worst outcome was to change their appearance and exist in a different form. Another cruel and cold fact was that demigods never died. They could always return from the river of fate.

Of course, after Lucien discovered the sun and confirmed the existence of planets, the Grand Cardinals were much more open-minded now. After all, there were so many more planets and resources. All they needed to do was to drive the Congress of Magic out of this world rather than seeking to eliminate them.

Hearing the pope’s confident declaration, the saints calmed down too. They believed that His Holiness would certainly not joke with his own life.

They left the corners and reached the twelve pillars that supported the weird cubic circle. Then, their bodies blurred into mists, and intense negative feelings flowed out.

Pope Viken stepped into the center and stuck his platinum staff against the hole at the top. Then, with his eyes half-closed, he chanted an evil, weird, and eccentric spell that was entirely different from the sacred and solemn divine power.

A wind started to blow. The feelings of gloom, darkness, corruption, and pain immediately filled this ancient sanctuary.

Centered at the platinum staff and Pope Viken, lines and symbols glittered. Some were silver, some crimson, some pure gold, and some dimly green. They changed nonstop exactly like the erratic mind of human beings.

The light and symbols flowed toward the twelve pillars, dyeing the misty shadows of the Grand Cardinals in different colors. They floated fuzzily like phantoms made of the light that represented different negative feelings.

As the shadows that looked like the primeval devils took shape, screams, moans, and roars suddenly echoed inside the ancient sanctuary, making the place look like the most horrifying and brutal hell.

As if he had heard the summoning of the devils and corrupt souls, a deep dark shadow suddenly appeared behind Pope Viken, also with intense hate and fury. It was exactly Monster Viken.

Boom!

The moment Monster Viken appeared, dark air emerged from the void of the circle and exploded. Then, colorful light was condensed in the black air and stretched out boundlessly.

In the cluster of light, the faces of miserable human beings, devils, dragons, and vampires appeared. For a moment, all the crazy faces were moving in a mess. It truly felt like the primeval hell!

His eyes half-closed, Viken made another step forward and uttered obscure words, as if he were a god berating the devils.

The platinum staff glowed, and the primeval hell simulated at the center of the circle rose. After it gradually left the ground, the floor was no longer as vintage and gray as a while before. The strange symbols were gone, replaced by a deep, dark, and bottomless abyss.

The simulated primeval hell kept rising, and spots of light glittered in the abyssal darkness down below. Lights in different colors were emerging, and the faces of countless intelligent creatures were also showing up, exactly like the reflection of the fake primeval hell up above. The only difference was that the darkness here was high, mighty, manipulative, and intangible.

Viken had indeed summoned the primeval hell!

……

Inside the primeval hell, as Lucien pressed forward, making Arrogance, Greed, Hypocrisy, and the other primeval devils smaller and smaller, the void and the rays of light in it suddenly began to tremble!

In the meantime, twelve shadows similar to the primeval devils were generated nearby, and the seven primeval devils expanded as if they had drunk tonics. They all laughed gloatingly and terrifyingly.

“Haha. Somebody summoned the primeval hell!” Hypocrisy looked at Lucien mockingly. “How unlucky of you. In such a case, it won’t be just a battle of your heart!”

Abhorrence gnashed its teeth. “Too many negative feelings and too many lost souls have been gathered in this place. The power when they are combined will be unforgettable for you! Face my fury and hate, and cry!”

“This is already the power of demigods, and your body is still outside, making it impossible for you to carry out all your strength!” Arrogance looked down at Lucien. “Kneel and beg. Perhaps I’ll give you a quick death!”

“Summoning the primeval hell…” Lucien looked at the void, stunned. So fast?

……

Seeing that the primeval hell was summoned, Philibell, Philip, and the other Grand Cardinals were all relieved. They had survived one of the two dangers. Then, they would summon the projection of Mountain Paradise to balance the projection of the primeval hell so that the pope could complete the melting.

They thought and struggled to resist because the primeval hell had a strong attraction force on them in their current state. They might be lost and swallowed by the primeval hell if they were careless.

Right when they waited for Pope Viken to summon the projection of Mountain Paradise with the platinum staff, Viken suddenly opened his eyes, which glowed like two suns.

In the meantime, the dark and corrupt Monster Viken behind him stepped forward and melted into his body.

As a result, Viken’s left eye dimmed like the darkest night, which was a major contrast to the bright right eye. However, a strange balance seemed to have been maintained. He put on a mocking smile.

“What exactly has happened?”

“They have melted so easily?”

“Damn it!”

Different thoughts occurred to the Grand Cardinals, who subconsciously wanted to get out of the circle. However, the powerful force of assimilation from the primeval hell stalled them.

Viken laughed blatantly and pointed his platinum staff ahead. “You are fortunate and favored, and you will receive the greatest glory, which is to melt with me, the incarnation of the Lord, to wake up the one true god and become part of Him.”

As he pointed his platinum staff and uttered his crazy declaration that contained supernatural powers, the simulated primeval hell dispersed and tied up the Grand Cardinals. All of a sudden, they felt that Pope Viken was their destiny, and they sincerely wanted to melt into him!

“Why is this happening?” Saint Kati exclaimed in shock.

Viken, both the pope and the monster, sneered, “Because I am the greatest primeval devil, and you are equal to my clones! This is decided by the feature of primeval devils. I’m sorry that I neglected that in the files I gave to you. Those who did not become a demigod based on this path can never sense it.”

“No wonder you were willing to share it!” Philip cried desperately.

“Are you out of your mind? You are dissolving the foundation of the Church!” Philibell roared, stressing that the dissemination of faith couldn’t be done without them.

The colorful lights of negative feelings jumped among the Grand Cardinals, causing them to assimilate with Viken faster and faster.

In a warm smile, Viken said, “That cannot be helped. Although I appreciate Lucien Evans’ contributions to the observer theory and the two thought experiments, it is not a perfect theory after all. Our integration is not temporary, and we will be separated again.

“Of course, the most important reason is that I am not strong enough as an observer. So, I need you to melt into me in order to really summon the primeval hell. Only after I become a true god that everything can be perfectly solved.

“If I succeed, the Church will never collapse with me as the true god, and it doesn’t matter if you are here; if I fail, I’ll fall into a long dormancy and even get swallowed by Monster Viken, in which case the Church matters little to me! I don’t care if the world will be destroyed after my death!”

The Grand Cardinals couldn’t have been more regretful, but they were not devastated yet. They talked in private before and predicted possible changes. At this moment, if they were to take action together according to the emergency plan, and since Viken could not be distracted, there was a good chance that they could escape!

They were certainly no fools that would believe everything that the pope said!

Right when they mobilized all their strength and attacked together, Saint Maria and Grand Cardinal Philip suddenly lost focus and fell into madness, melting into the simulated primeval hell voluntarily!

Had they been controlled by Viken already?

Desperation, regrets, pain, and other feelings rose in the hearts of the other Grand Cardinals, making it even less possible for them to resist the assimilation. As a result, they were melted and reflected in the real primeval hell!

Boom!

The darkness on the floor rose and embraced the fake primeval hell in the sky, gathering into a world that was full of betrayals, slaughters, jealousy, and lust!

Boom!

Behind Viken, the space was torn apart, and the hallowed, wondrous hymns came out. The glorious and brilliant Mountain Paradise had arrived!

The two of them moved toward each other, raising an uncanny air that surged toward the sky. In every corner in the entire world, the unusual view of half night and half day was showing up.

In the City in the Sky, Douglas sensed something when the primeval hell was gathered. He blinked to the midair and looked at the direction of the Holy City in a daze. Stars emerged in his eyes and moved in mysterious trajectories, as if he were performing astrology with them as the crystal balls.

“What is Viken trying to do?”