Archwizard K’s Journey In The Cultivation World

Case 117: Call for rule, fight for freedom.

The continent of Linoel was suddenly enveloped in darkness.

In a heartbeat, the sun was blanketed by something hardly describable. People of all ages and occupations, regardless of what they were doing, poured out to the street to witness the anomaly.

Widespread panic.

At such a time, the governments of all countries who had received information from August von Lilienthal beforehand released their own pieces of prepared announcements, settling their citizens down.

''Whew...''

On a certain balcony belonging to the Imperial Palace of Lilienthal, one could see glimpses of flowing violet hair.

Valentine, who had become the temporary commander-in-chief of the empire, quickly shook off her nervousness and steeled her mind. After a deep breath, she took one final glance at the sea of light coming from the capital before turning around.

At one moment, the sky-piercing tower that emitted crimson light came into her view.

'Please don't die on us, Crimson Archwizard.'

A tangible, viscous sense of discomfort was detected in the air.

Meanwhile, at one of the top floors of the Crimson Tower, three women stood by each other, gazing beyond the sky.

''I'm honestly surprised it took you only this much to get here, Master. I thought those women would hold you back for a while.''

''I know. A few kisses worked wonder.''

''Ah... so it's like that.''

''You'll understand when you get a mate. Sexual acts are like drugs, dulling people's minds.''

''...You made me not want to try at all by describing it that way, master.''

Although the content of the conversation was light-hearted, their faces were visibly tense. It was routine for the duo of master-disciple to try and lighten the atmosphere whenever they were about to confront a formidable adversary.

'It's been... what, a hundred and a half years since the last major battle?'

''Are you ready, Cosmos?''

''Nn.''

Kierra smiled bitterly at the scene of Cosmos, now in the shape of a woman, nodding with enthusiasm. As dangerous as this fight might get, it was, in every sense, the very thing she and the archwizard wanted—a challenge.

Wouldn't it be exciting to spar against an opponent who you weren't certain you could win?

But this time, the whole continent was on the line, so they needed to go all out from the beginning.

''It's coming.''

Slowly, as if coming from beyond the planet's atmosphere, a spec of light descended from above. With time, the dot rapidly enlarged and enlarged, nailing down into the continent of Linoel like a falling anvil.

The world was lit again, but not by the sun.

Now, sitting somewhere beyond the ocean of Linoel was a colossal balance scale of glamorous gold. It stood as tall as the sky itself, radiating a palpable sense of oppression.

It felt as though their body was pressed down by a giant.

As a matter of course, what followed was even more panic. Yet, the people's screams were obstructed by a constant ringing noise that seemed to paralyze their thoughts.

''Cosmos, let us go.''

''Alright, my friend.''

The atmosphere of the three was solemn. Kierra, with her eyes intently glued on the city below, which had just hastily deployed its defensive system, opened several of her pocket dimensions with a snap.

As she took out all kinds of items—elixirs, enhancement potions, armor, and most importantly, her staff, Cosmos and Angelica quietly left the place, each going in their own direction.

It was a routine she hadn't had to execute for well over a century, but here she was, chugging down potions after potions in perfect order and absorbing their effects with immense efficiency. 

They were mostly to clear her head and made her able to hyper-focus on casting spells, as well as heightening her senses.

Finally, Kierra grabbed the staff that was as tall as her and took off to the sky, heading toward the scale in the distance. Bursting through the clouds, she cast a gaze to the scene below. It seemed Eon had decided to go all-out, releasing all of its soldiers to confront humanity.

'Restore the order... my ass.'

The archwizard clenched her teeth, frowning at the sight of fanatics in priest robes wielding borrowed divine power to threaten the ordinary folks, not hesitating to deal killing blows to ones that were not complying.

Fortunately, Imperial Guards had already been placed appropriately beforehand. At least they could stall for a bit.

Still, the fastest way to eliminate all of those lunatics was to defeat Eon, who was likely waiting somewhere on that balance scale, smuggling by itself.

''Whew...''

Kierra took a deep breath.

''Come to me, my loyal servants.''

————————!!

————————!!

Heeding the archwizard's call, enormous beasts of mythical origin emerged from distant realms, pouring out from her behind. Lord dragons of the elements swimming through the air with spirits of the ocean, ones taking the shapes of great blue whales and orcas. Below, the high spirit of forests took on the form of a wolf, trailing golden animals of life as it skipped on the surface of the sea.

''Ovi.''

Two vengeful sprouts of red burst out of the deer skull that Kierra held beside her using telekinesis, and before long, a formless, void-dark body had formed. Without needing a specific command, Ovi of the death brought forth another sea of undead.

Some skeleton mages froze a path of ice for others to walk on.

Some rode the backs of the lord dragons and their subordinates.

Seemingly creatures of opposing nature, yet they only advanced in only one direction—all for the sake of fulfilling their master's will. One might ask a question—if someone used their power to rule a civilization forcibly, would they be more qualified as a deity than someone like the mortal wizard Kierra, who had managed to unify death and life?

It was a question of morality.

But neither Kierra nor Eon had paid any attention to it. Ultimately, it was a matter of who was more powerful—no more, no less.

'I'm coming, you bastard.'

Soon, Kierra's army had reached the balance scale. Up close, it was even more towering than it was before. In addition, the oppressive aura felt from here was much denser than usual.

In a sense, it was a domain.

Maybe it really was. It wouldn't matter much. Kierra was prepared to fight in its domain in the first place, but before that, there appeared to be a horde of minions guarding the place.

'Are they... humans?'

Somehow, they seemed humanoid but lacked features that made them individuals—like a bunch of puppets.

''Ovi. Stay behind and clear up these guys for me. Take command of the others.''

[Understood]

Clenching her staff, the archwizard released a burst of mana, propelling her upward to the very top of the scale, where her enemy surely was. As she punched through the air, the mantle that was made of her trickling mana got wider and longer, parallelling her output.

thump—!

Her hearts throbbed.

With a mind clearer than ever, Kierra began to chant.