A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 445 Death is Coming

"I suddenly thought of something." Rorschach frowned as he was about to step into the portal.

Kano now placed the utmost importance on this disciple: "What's wrong?"

"I learned from ancient texts that the Lord of Order sealed away spells above the ninth ring using some means. Is that true?"

"Master Feuerbach also mentioned this," Kano nodded. "But I witnessed the super-level magic reaction on the Tree of Truth with my own eyes, and we can only accept this reality. We cannot know the Lord of Order's methods; it could be a loosening of the seal, or it could be that there was super-level magic beyond the seal to begin with."

Kano did not believe that the gods could control everything, and that the power of the Lord of Order had already declined, as could be seen from the various signs last year, and was also evident from the significant reduction in the Church's sphere of influence.

"You mean there are other gods causing trouble behind the scenes?" Cano looked at Rosya, then quickly shook his head: "No matter what, we'll only know when we get there."

Poincaré, Caroline, and Snow remained in Valuvana. Even if Cano made the decision to take the "key combatant" Rorschach to the Moncado fortress, the most likely location for the spell, the Republic's brain and heart could not afford to be compromised.

When the master and apprentice appeared on the outskirts of Moncado Fortress, the ritual had already begun. The busy National Guard had not yet noticed anything amiss, but in the eyes of the two spellcasters, negative energy was already surging and spreading from the center of the fortress, continuously engulfing the army and the nearby capital of the Condi region.

Those marked and locked by negative energy are all tinged with a purplish-black light in Arcane Vision, except for Kano and Rorschach, whose auras strongly resist the corruption.

There were still about 30,000 people left in the capital city of Condi, and at least 60,000 National Guard main force members in the fortress and camp. After making an estimate, Cano sneered with a dark face: "What a grand gesture." After confirming the location of the spell, Cano sent a message to Poincaré, who was left in the capital, to inform them to come as soon as possible.

The origin of the ritual is easy to find; it lies beneath the fortress.

"Having protection isn't very clever." Kano headed straight for Warehouse Number One, violently blasting open the floor tiles to reveal the barrier set up by the Necromancer.

Pascal and Paul stumbled in by accident, having received an invitation from the chief of staff to Richard. Now, these two unwelcome guests were naturally turned away.

The quartermaster tried to stop the intruders who were destroying the fortress without explanation. The intruder seemed to be a mage, but even mages had to follow military rules. The quartermaster was about to say something when he collapsed.

The extraction of life has begun, and even Rorschach and Cano's spiritual light cannot resist the "suction." They find themselves in a weakened state, which, if visualized, means their life is rapidly decreasing by "-1 second."

Suddenly, the brick seams in the warehouse softened, and the upper and lower bricks opened up like eyelids, revealing human eyes: "Kano. Heh, you've been bloated with worldly pleasures for over a decade, yet you haven't produced any decent results."

After taunting the enemy from afar in the secret room, the Necromancer immediately released [Spatial Anchor] to prevent the enemy from teleporting in, and at the same time used some of his accumulated power to set up three more barriers.

"Why is the spiritual fire even weaker after adding 'fuel'?" The Necromancer noticed that the energy of the blood pool had not increased with the addition of Pascal and Paul. He frowned slightly but quickly relaxed. This was a minor matter; the ritual had already begun and could only continue.

As the "suction" grew stronger, Kano discovered the spatial anchor and decided to do the opposite, temporarily cutting off and sealing the space where the ritual core was located from the prime material plane to isolate the spell's influence.

However, the terrifying effects of the super-level spells revealed their fangs. At this point, the environmental magic no longer obeyed Archmage Cano's commands and continued to "diligently" act as a transporter of life, with the speed of diffusion and transfer accelerating exponentially.

The quartermaster, who lacked intrinsic magic and was close enough to the core, was the first to be affected; his body had already turned to ashes.

Meanwhile, the pile of flesh and blood in the secret room began to merge and deform, the bloodstains concealed, and gradually revealed a heroic man as if sculpted from marble.

The necromancer's burning eyes admired his masterpiece: it was the emperor's body at its peak, perfectly formed, requiring no adjustments from the necromancer. Once the man was fully formed, the spell's range would reach its maximum, and the rate of life absorption would peak.

In that instant, the emperor's enemies would be annihilated, becoming the cornerstone of the empire's eternal existence.

Feel honored! The necromancer trembled.

Meanwhile, outside the secret chamber, Rorschach found a way to resist: he could only absorb the environmental magic, now corrupted into negative energy, enduring the resentment, hatred, and pain it brought, resisting his instinctive rejection. After inhaling it, he would invoke Dryuyaz's divine magic to purify it before releasing it.

The mellow magic created a small domain within the super-level magic, enveloping Rorschach and Cano, finally giving the archmage room to cast spells.

"Teacher, let me prepare the spell."

Cano immediately abandoned the plan to divide the secret room and chose to cooperate with Rorschach to protect the students who were preparing.

It'll be here soon, it'll be here soon.

The necromancer eagerly watched his masterpiece take shape, a gift he had prepared for the emperor: a body that would grant him eternal life and immortality. Now, only the ankles remained.

The spells originally recorded could only extend lifespan within the current age range. In other words, without the necromancer's current improvements, even if the spell were successful, the emperor's great soul would be trapped in his ailing old body.

Your Majesty, you do not know, nor need you know, how much I have done for you.

Suddenly, something he couldn't understand happened: a dazzling beam of light descended from above, and when the light disappeared, only the top of the head and the toes remained of the future emperor's perfect body.

The beam of light even pierced through the blood pool. At the edge of the dried-up pool, Pascal, bewildered and terrified, dragged Paul along, their bodies covered with exposed mutated blood vessels.

Without giving the enemy a chance to breathe, another ray descended, dispelling the chaotic energy and calming the restless souls and flesh.

"No! No, no, no!" The necromancer collapsed amidst the remaining flesh and blood, futilely prying up some severed limbs. The magical barrier between the inner and outer chambers had lost its meaning, and a window had opened. Through the clean cuts, the necromancer looked up and saw two faces he would hate for the rest of his life.

"What have you done?!" He quickly lost his temper, his tattoos flaring up: "Die! I'll take your souls!"

Without wasting words, Kano tore the clamoring necromancer to pieces from a spatial perspective.

However, the roar still echoed in the secret chamber, and a thick black mist surged upwards, revealing the face of the chief of the army. He rushed towards the two, actually trying to escape—the body created by the [Static Cloning Technique] was waiting for him.

At that moment, unnoticed by him, the young man beside Cano made his move.

"No, no, no—!" These were the chief's last words. He had taken the lives of many within the fortress, ultimately paying the price with his own.

A new portal appeared, and Poincaré and the others arrived.

"It's over already?" The others were somewhat surprised. Paulina was the first to notice that Pascal was lying beneath the wound. His mangled and bloody appearance almost made Paulina faint.

While treating and rescuing the others, Poincaré looked around: "Where's Rorschach?"

"Maybe he went to check on the situation outside," Cano replied.

Rorschach and Richard, who was about to be turned into a zombie, disappeared together near the secret chamber.

(End of this chapter)