A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 521 Where Does the God Dwell?

"The instruments have stabilized, and the buffer tank filling rate is decreasing. We survived! We succeeded!"

Cavendish suppressed his immense excitement with a last shred of panic. After repeatedly confirming that all indicators had returned to normal, he trembled as he reactivated the top shell transparency.

From then on, the starry sky that came into his view was no longer distorted or dazzling.

It was even somewhat empty and desolate.

Following the repeated rehearsals, they carefully reduced their speed, allowing the starship and the transmutation dust to pass by, thus drawing fuel from and filling the engines—the energy source that sustains the complex systems.

After the "dragonfly skimming the water" operation, the storage tank reached 80% of its designed capacity, and the starship returned to a stable orbit.

During the "water dipping" phase, they released several one-way communication spheres to urgently report the starship's safety. Some of these spheres should be captured by the collector's teleportation array and then appear in the furnace along with the transmutation dust.

"Can we activate the gravity trap now?" This part of the device is a masterpiece of the Tower of Time in Istani. Although weightlessness is easily accepted by spellcasters, and even high-level spellcasters can briefly transform themselves into an astral creature form like Kano, perfectly avoiding these problems.

However, for the team and subsequent personnel who might enter the astral plane, their experimental research required a gravity environment similar to that of Earth. The starship's design ensured that as long as it could traverse the upper laminar surface, it could continuously draw energy without worrying about magic. Therefore, the "gravity trap" system was naturally installed in the prototype starship.

The spell that plays a central role was also used as combat magic and was called [Earth Binding].

"Wait a minute," the female mage stopped the proposal. "Before 'returning to bondage,' why not experience the starry sky first?"

Cavendish nodded, and they unfastened themselves from their seats, slowly floating into the cockpit. Everyone shared the same feeling: although the size of the cockpit itself hadn't changed, the entire space felt significantly larger once they could move freely in all directions.

Weightlessness training on the ground involves applying a "levitation technique" to the trainees, and they can feel the difference. For example, with the slightest movement, their position and speed will immediately change.

Cavendish drifted unconsciously toward the transparent top shell, admiring the starry sky before his gaze fell upon the multicolored "sea surface." They had all once been inhabitants of the "seabed," with Cano being the first (historically recorded) to surface, and now they were the second wave.

Looking down from above, the land and ocean are still visible, but they are tinged with subtle, gradual colors. At the edge of the sphere, you can vaguely see small bubbles that are spliced ​​together with the main matter plane and squeezed into the same bubble.

Are they some secondary planes, or is the prime material plane in a state of fragmentation?

Cavendish observed phenomena not recorded in ancient texts and silently noted them down, believing they would be analyzed once the starship was stable.

"Captain, we're about to activate gravity." A teammate's reminder interrupted Cavendish's observation. After all three were secured, Cavendish activated the [Earth Binding] within the starship.

Once a stable environment was achieved in the cabin, some of the oxygen obtained from the electrolysis of water was injected into the cabin after being filtered by the air filter bubble. The three then unfolded the true form of the starship.

The magic power gained from the engine was further diverted and injected into the circuits embedded in the inner wall, causing the space inside the cabin to visibly expand. After releasing the items from the storage bags and boxes, the three's "base" in the starry sky was finally complete.

After all this was done, the second-stage engine recharged its magic and resumed propulsion. Cavendish couldn't rest yet; he now had to take on the role of helmsman, determining the ship's position based on the star map and correcting its course when necessary.

He soon realized that this was not an easy task; the surface of the metamorphic dust layer was not calm, and there were even many "reefs" and "islands".

"Reefs" are mostly tiny celestial bodies that were originally destined to fall to Earth. Some of them can distort and penetrate metamorphic dust, while others are transformed by mixed divine power into complex, tangled derivatives. Some are beautiful crystal clusters, while others are like living tumors that are constantly growing and being destroyed by metamorphic dust. It seems that their form depends on which divine power has the upper hand in the attack.

Furthermore, Rorschach had seen many "large fragments of divine kingdoms," some of which were corners of buildings, others like silhouettes of divine kingdoms, radiating light from within. These relatively intact fragments were not originally so densely distributed, but as the collector array expanded, all the large fragments affected by the vortex were gathering together.

These seem to be more dangerous than metamorphic dust. The space around them is illusory, like a breach in the normal world. It is very likely that they can ascend to the symbolic realm and the primordial layer through the "breach" without needing to perform ritual magic like Kano.

Is this the former abode of the gods? Only now did the three of them truly grasp the reality.

Too close to a large piece of debris. Cavendish gripped the control ball, trying to steer the starship toward the danger zone.

Why can't we shake it off? Is this piece of debris chasing us?

"What happened?" Caroline noticed that Rorschach's relaxed expression suddenly turned serious and realized that something was wrong.

"There's a familiar aura. It's not the Mother Goddess," Luo Xia explained in advance to avoid misunderstanding. "When I discovered the border region, I visited the 'Temple of Thoth,' a seemingly complete divine kingdom. There were even archangel-level divine beasts there. Now, a similar being seems to have arrived at the Great Vortex."

"Thoth?" Caroline knew perfectly well what this divine name meant. She immediately said, "I will return in spirit form immediately and then notify Master Cano and the others." She then took Rosya's hand and said, "Don't leave the border area and risk your life until reinforcements arrive."

Rorschach remained silent until Caroline's spirit departed. He shook his head, saying, "If we stand here and do nothing, Cavendish and the others might die without a burial place."

His figure disappeared at the border.

The fragments of the divine kingdom, which were steadily approaching the starship, stopped. What was blocking its path between itself and its target?

A human-shaped figure protrudes from the surface of the transmutation dust layer; it is blurry and constantly changing.

From a corner of the fragment of the divine kingdom, a being emerged in a near-perfect male form. He wore robes even more ancient than those of the old empire and calmly addressed the one blocking his path, saying, "You now bear a nine-tenths resemblance to His Highness the Invisible God."

After speaking, the man took another step forward, and this time, without the rubble and debris obscuring his view, he revealed his right hand holding the flaming sword.

Within the humanoid silhouette opposing Him, blue light activated and engulfed the transmutation dust, purified the mixed divine power, and condensed a clear face, body, and mage's robe based on it.

Rorschach asked, "Who are you? Thoth? Or an archangel under someone's command?"

"The answers to the two questions are not mutually exclusive. As for the first question, the answer is the same: I am Thoth, and Thoth is not me." After saying this, He bowed deeply to Rorschach.

(End of this chapter)