Asura in Arknights

Constellation Guardian is a defensive Originium Arts that Li Ang desperately needed. Relying solely on dodging and using the light wings that condense after opening his eyes to withstand attacks is actually not enough. Li Ang can gradually realize this predicament, and Star Extinction can be said to have helped Li Ang solve his urgent problem.

Li Ang is not lacking in offensive capabilities, and Elena's magic is not necessarily more powerful than the several wave swords he has researched.

"That's amazing... Does that mean you can learn any spell?"

After receiving treatment from Warfarin, Huang, who was resting nearby, remarked with such emotion.

Her Originium Arts are too unsuitable for adaptation. Even if she learns other spells, they are ultimately not as useful as the abilities that infected people are born with.

To be honest, Huang greatly envied this talent of being able to learn whatever she wanted. She had tried countless methods to strengthen her pitifully weak Originium Arts.

"It's not as powerful as you think. First of all, a person's energy is limited, and there's no need to learn so many spells. My abilities aren't as convenient as you think either. Even if I could observe the structure of all spells, it doesn't mean I can learn all of them."

The application of perception is actually quite narrow. Apart from helping Li Ang quickly understand and master the theory of modern Originium Arts at the beginning, its only contribution is to help him develop a set of usable skills.

As for the Originium Arts used by others, those that Li Ang could learn were not to his liking, and those that he wanted to learn always had some strange elements mixed in, with various restrictions.

"For example, I have no way of learning Dr. Warfarin's Originium Arts."

"Huh? Why not?"

Meanwhile, Warfarin's treatment of ACE had come to an end. When Li Ang suddenly mentioned her, she asked him a question with great interest.

"My talent for healing magic is terrible. After studying it for a long time, all I can do is heal my own scrapes. It's not even as fast as if I just leave it alone to heal."

Li Ang retorted, "Besides... Dr. Warfarin, yours wasn't exactly pure Originium Arts, was it? It also incorporated some of the Blood Demon's unique abilities."

Li Ang couldn't learn things like racial talents, divine gifts, and other such random things, but it was precisely these random elements that often gave Originium Arts powerful effects.

"Ah...indeed, I did use a portion of the Blood Demon's talent."

Just look at the pile of bloody mist that Warfarin created; every Blood Demon has the potential to become a top medical expert. Unfortunately, apart from Warfarin, who is an anomaly, most Blood Demons are just bloodthirsty monsters.

"Alright, ACE should be able to move now, let's get out of here quickly."

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Chapter 74 Machine Instructions

Once ACE was able to move, they evacuated out of the ruins as quickly as possible.

This exploration mission essentially ended in failure; nothing was found, and nearly half of the team members were injured.

Of course, that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is... with the explosion of those dozens of mutants, not only the laboratory they used as a nest, but also a tenth of the entire ruins were blown into the sky.

This means that there is at least a one in ten chance that the data Elena is looking for will be lost forever.

Then, the thought of the storage devices in the lab that haven't been collected yet raises the possibility to an even higher level.

The thought of this possibility made Elena's face fall completely.

Well... we can't blame her for that, can we? She was doing everything very seriously... and she almost lost her life because of it.

Moreover, the clever Elena could imagine that what had just happened was more than just an explosion.

The ruins conceal a potentially deadly crisis, which will inevitably lead to a lot of wrangling with the higher-ups at Pol Pharmaceuticals. They might even need to revise their contract with Rhodes Island, and it remains to be seen whether they will be willing to send anyone to explore this dangerous place.

Furthermore, if the higher-ups in Kazimierz were to learn of what was happening here, they might find an excuse to get involved. In that case, it wouldn't be a three-way meeting anymore, but rather five, six, or even more unrelated parties would be involved.

In any case, it's definitely impossible to complete the exploration of the ruins in just half a month.

Putting aside others, even Elena herself wouldn't dare to enter that dangerous place again anytime soon.

They were lucky this time, someone protected them, but what if they encounter those things again next time? Judging from the conversation between the Knight and Blaze, he was just a temporary worker at Rhodes Island and wouldn't necessarily participate in every operation. If he wasn't there, they might not be so lucky next time.

"Look on the bright side, what if the information you're looking for is somewhere else? There are still nine-tenths of this ruin left."

Seeing Elena's sullen expression, Li Ang offered her a word of comfort.

"If only that were the case," Elena replied dejectedly.

The thought of her research project in Colombia made Elena feel even more nauseous.

She was just out with her mentor to broaden her horizons, so why did it turn out like this? Could her mentor really be leaving her to handle this mess? As the situation grew increasingly difficult, Elena felt powerless to do anything about it.

Even if those mutants didn't self-destruct, with Li Ang secretly plotting behind the scenes, Elena would ultimately end up with nothing.

Li Ang felt somewhat embarrassed, so he thought for a moment and decided to tell her a secret.

Although this secret may not be of much use to Elena herself, it should be considered a form of compensation.

“Elena, and Xingji, I made a very strange discovery while I was studying your astrological magic.”

Both sisters were drawn to Li Ang's words. Elena perked up a little and asked, "What discovery?"

"This may involve core secrets passed down in your family. Do you really want to tell others about this here?"

Xingji originally wanted to say that their family's heritage had long since lost its secrets, and most of their spells were unusable, so what kind of heritage was that?

In a while, astrological magic might completely lose its effectiveness, and she and Elena might be the last generation to master it.

But when I think about the pirated 'Constellation Guardian' that Li Ang released earlier, it doesn't look like a weakened version at all...

So when the words were on the tip of his tongue, Xingji hesitated again.

"We'll go first, you guys can talk slowly behind us, and remember not to fall behind."

Noticing Stellar's hesitation, Warfarin made this suggestion.

"Don't worry, even if they fall behind, I can still lead them away."

"Well, I'll leave it to you. Remember to keep an eye on the usage time of the protective suits, as they don't have any means to resist Originium radiation."

She gave Warfarin an OK sign and then left with the others.

See you in the car later.

Watching the crowd gradually disappear into the distance, Xingji took a deep breath and said, "Knight, what did you discover?"

"Let's talk as we walk."

The three of them started walking, heading towards the exit at a slightly slower pace.

“Starry Sky, I remember saying before that starting from your great-grandfather’s generation, your family’s astrological magic began to show signs of continuous decline, and by your father’s generation, most of the inherited magic could no longer be used?”

“That’s right.” Xingji nodded slightly.

"However, Elena and I are more talented than our father, and we can use more spells than they can."

Both constellation protection and star beams were advanced spells that had been lost before the sisters were born.

"Are those spells unusable, or simply cannot be used?" Li Ang asked.

"What's the difference between these two?" Xingji asked, puzzled.

"Is it 'the casting unit is operating normally, the spell structure is completed, and everything is normal, but the spell used does not have the expected effect', or 'there was a problem with the casting unit or the spell structure from the beginning'?"

Li Ang explained the difference between the two to her in detail.

"It's the former."

Without even considering it carefully, Xingji nodded with absolute certainty, "Most spells, even if used, will have absolutely no effect."

Everything seemed normal, yet the spell's effects were becoming weaker and weaker.

It was precisely because of this incomprehensible event that they felt so desperate.

With their talents, Xingji and Elena should have achieved even greater things. However, Xingji was trapped in the quagmire of 'astrological magic', while Elena was lucky enough to escape from it.

However, even for Elena, astrological magic has left an indelible mark on her.

"Looks like I guessed right." Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time became even more certain of his guess.

"The magic passed down in your family is not the problem; the problem lies with the thing that lent you that power."

"What does this mean? Does it mean we didn't create these Originium Arts ourselves?"

Li Ang's statement was quite bizarre, and the two sisters couldn't understand what he was trying to say at all.

"No, what I mean is that the astrological magic you have inherited only serves to open a 'door,' while the one that truly unleashes the magic is the unknown entity behind that door."

Li Ang explained, "Different spells are like different doors, which is why some spells fail while others can still be used."

"Because ultimately, all your spells were successfully cast, it's just that the thing that lent you the power didn't respond."

Few people can see the entirety of a spell as directly as Li Ang.

Most Terrans study Originium Arts like blind men touching an elephant, trying this and that, mostly relying on luck. This is especially true for ancient, inherited spells, whose structures are ten or even dozens of times more complex than modern Originium Arts, making improvement almost impossible. This is a consequence of studying Sarkaz sorcery's "I think" ability.

Therefore, what Li Ang learned was not the 'Constellation Guardian Summoning Ritual' used by Xingji, but the Constellation Guardian spell itself, and he added a lot of his own understanding, which is why the two sisters had a vague feeling about it.

After hearing Li Ang's explanation, both sisters fell silent.

But it wasn't long before Elena realized what was going on and immediately retorted, "According to you, wouldn't there be a super powerful guy who responds to our family's summons 24 hours a day, without sleep or in any location? And he even has to precisely distinguish between hundreds of different summoning rituals? That's too outrageous! Astrological magic has existed for hundreds of years; it's impossible for anyone to do something like that."

“If humans can’t do it, then what about machines?” Li Ang replied calmly. “Don’t you think what you just described sounds a lot like a machine?”

“The essence of your Ubika family’s astrological magic is very likely this process: inputting fixed instructions and then receiving fixed results.”

"Machines cannot use Originium memories, that's common sense!"

"The machines built by the Terrans can't use Originium Arts now, so what about those left over from the previous civilization?"

"Furthermore, my Originium Arts can detect a fundamental difference in the fluctuations before and after the spells are formed during the casting process of the two of you."

Li Ang refuted Elena's claims with just two simple sentences, leaving her speechless.

The pre-civilization... to the current Terrans, it was no different from an omnipotent god. The fact that the machines they built could use Originium Arts didn't seem like anything amazing.

The two sisters quieted down, pondering the shock that Li Ang had brought them.

After a long pause, Xingji finally spoke, carefully considering his words as he said, "So, Sir Knight, you believe that there is a machine left over from a previous civilization providing power to our Ubica family? Now... that machine may have malfunctioned, which is why our spells are gradually losing their effectiveness?"

"Although there may be some minor errors, this should be correct." Li Ang nodded affirmatively.

“…This is outrageous,” Xingji murmured. “I’m suddenly glad that I let Dr. Warfarin and the others leave first.”

Clearly, Xingji had been largely persuaded by Li Ang.

Regardless of the lack of logical flaws in Li Ang's statement, his mastery of 'constellation protection' alone is enough to provide irrefutable evidence that Xingji has no way to refute—perhaps her understanding of astrological magic over the past ten years is less than what this man has learned in the past hour or so.

"What kind of astrological spell is this... It has absolutely nothing to do with stars! I think it should just be renamed 'One Hundred Foolproof Operations of Pre-Civilization Machines'," Elena grumbled from the side.

Her academic background is much higher than Xingji's, and she has been influenced by the intellectual circles of Columbia University, so she is more likely to accept this explanation.

It's just a machine from a pre-civilization era, nothing special.

What really angered Elena was that this thing had absolutely nothing to do with the stars and constellations that had tormented her throughout her childhood, which infuriated her.

She really wanted to tell this secret to those old folks in her family who were always talking about stars and constellations, and see how they would react.

However, she had barely finished complaining when Li Ang continued,

"No, if I'm not mistaken, it does have something to do with stars."

"Huh? How can this even be related?" Elena asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Do you guys know about the meteor shower that happened more than half a month ago? According to calculations, most of Terra should have been able to see it."

"Oh, I know, I know."

Elena immediately became excited when this was mentioned. "I had just woken up at the time, and you could see traces of that meteor shower even during the day."

"Later, our company seems to have recovered a piece of star fragment, but unfortunately I don't have the authority to see it. It seems the people from the General Components Department took it away," Elena said with a hint of regret.

Li Ang's heart stirred slightly. He hadn't expected to confirm it at this moment: Rhine Lab had indeed recovered a piece of the Road Shaper's remains.

"But what does that prove?"

"Don't rush."

Li Ang gestured to Elena not to rush, then looked at her sister and said, "Miss Xingji, if I'm not mistaken, your astrological magic should have changed somewhat since that meteor shower, right?"

Is that true?

Elena was somewhat confused, as she rarely used her Originium Arts, so such a change was impossible for her.

On the other side, upon hearing Li Ang's question, Xingji immediately showed a knowing expression.

"Of course."

"Elena, haven't you noticed that your starbeams are much stronger than before?"

"Moreover... before that day, my constellation guardian could only be used on myself, and I couldn't release it on others, especially two different people."

"So, this is the connection I was referring to."

Li Ang slapped his hands together and clasped them in front of his chest.