The Forsaken Hero-Chapter 669: Magic Revealed

The golden light of R’lissea’s Nexus spun around my soul, sending a shiver down my back. Her spell was tight and clean, a nearly identical copy of my enhanced variant.

The Apostles stiffened as the unfamiliar magic settled over them;

"What is this?" Edrin asked, hand on his sword.

Luke motioned for him to relax. "You were asking how my army managed to win so many battles with so few demons? Watch and learn."

R’lissea’s aura soared, gentle and warm like the spring breeze, and she began casting another spell. Glittering ribbons of green and gold wove together in seven magic circles. They spun lazily above her hands.

"What kind of magic is this?" the Imperial healer asked, staring at the dual-attributes spell.

"Quiet, Etrial," Elaine said. "Let the girl focus.

He shook his head, hands balled into fists. "I cannot, my Lady. I can’t allow these...heroes to cast an unknown spell on you or his majesty. It might be worse than–"

"I will not ask again," Elaine glared at him, letting a fraction of her aura emphasize her words. "If you can’t bring yourself to watch, you may leave, though I sense you’ll regret that. I’m no mage, but even I can recognize that S Pell for what it is. Don’t miss this chance to witness what is perhaps the greatest magical innovation in a thousand years. Moreover, it’s life magic cast by the Life Hero herself. How can a healer like you complain about this? Who knows what you’ll be able to glean from it?"

"Y-yes, my Lady," he stammered, lowering his head.

As the seventh circle took shape, a tremor shook the ground. My heart quickened, and my started to flick back and forth.

"Quickly," I urged, "There isn’t much time."

Sweat beaded on R’lissea’s forehead, and she gritted her teeth. The last hundred runes spun into place, taking the majority of her mana with it. She slumped over, standing by virtue of her staff alone, and gave me a small, tired smile.

"Celestial Grace," she whispered.

Her spell resolved with a soft flash of light, showering us with warm radiance. The gentle aura cracked a second later, and a torrent of mana flooded the Nexus. R’lissea’s face twisted in a grimace as her soul bore the brunt of supporting the transfer of such a massive spell, just as mine had in the border city so long ago. Unlike me, however, she quickly adapted, the pain insignificant when faced with the resiliency of her seventh-level body.

The entire room froze as the spell surged into everyone’s souls. Auras sprung out of control, from the dozen sixth-level guards to the weakened Apostles. Elise gasped for breath as her body twitched, strength flowing into her limbs.

As usual, I felt the greatest effect while gaining the least amount of power. My soul stabilized, the frayed edges curling back like twine before flames. I took a deep breath, letting my mana well up in my soul, feeling even stronger than I’d hoped. Perhaps it would be possible to survive what was coming after all. No, we might even win!

Elaine let out a low groan, abruptly stumbling backward. As the other’s auras stabilized, hers grew, sizing the air with suffocating pressure. My enhanced lungs tightened, every breath painful against the weight on my chest.

She clutched her head, light leaking from every fiber of her body. "So...much...power... "

"Restrain yourself! You’re hurting the emperor!" Etrial cried, leaning against the wall for support.

"I can’t!" she cried.

I looked at R’lissea, finding her slumped over, breathing heavily. Strong as her body was, her soul had little protection against the uncontrollable outpouring of a Ninth-level aura.

"Xiviyah, do something!" Luke cried, standing protectively over Evla. The demonkin was even weaker than R’lissea, her soul already taxed by the church’s curse.

There was no time to hesitate or think if I could do it. I soul cast a fifth-circle spell, one of many I’d studied in Haven’s library. Though it was my first time casting it, I knew the words by heart.

"Aether Snatch!"

My mana snapped out like a whip, seizing the golden web of threads binding the Nexus to R’lissea’s soul. I felt a brief, violent tug before the entire spell flowed off her soul like water dripping down glass. It reformed around mine, and I gasped as the burden of sustaining the seventh-level Celestial Grace followed.

Even if the Nexus was bound to my soul, it took me a few breaths to adjust to the new spells. R’lissea’s version of Celestial Grace was slightly different than mine, relying on her expertise with Life Magic to provide an additional boost to the body while sacrificing some efficiency in the soul.

But it wasn’t in her variant I found the flaw, but the fundamental design of the spell. When Celestial Grace attached to a soul, it was like opening the faucet valve, allowing the soul to siphon mana from fate itself. Without conscious direction, a soul had very little discipline and drew in as much as they could as quickly as they could. Through much trial and error, R’lissea and I had built-in safeguards to hamper the soul’s ability to what the spell could safely handle.

Still, neither of us had accounted for how overwhelmingly powerful a Ninth-level soul was. This version of Celestial Grace was tuned to grant a seventh-level soul a nearly fifty percent boost, reduced to about thirty for the eighth level. It was barely ten at Ninth, but even ten percent of an ocean was incomprehensible compared to fifty of a lake.

Modifying an active spell was considered an impossibility, but I hadn’t spent countless hours studying magic in vain. The Oracle of Eternity allowed me the senses to keep up with the constantly shifting mana flow. We’re the problem on the physical end; there would likely be nothing I could do, but this was an issue of the soul. I had personally chosen every rune in the spell and quickly found the flaw.

After I isolated the particular chain of runes responsible for regulating the intake, it became a matter of time. I worked tirelessly, swapping runes and recrafting the circle until Elaine began to get her power under control. Her aura lapsed, retreating into her soul, and everyone in the room breathed a collective breath of relief. Some of the weaker guards snagged against the wall, eyes rolled up in their heads, but no one’s soul had been damaged.

The ground rocked, throwing me off my feet. I screamed as I tumbled, the wall becoming the ceiling, and crashed headlong into a wall of silver fur. Fable cushioned me with his body, releasing a blast of mana that absorbed my force. When I opened my eyes, I was sprawled across his stomach, his paws closed protectively around me.

Groaning softly, I rubbed my head and rolled off the wolf, standing on shaky legs. Dark fissures snaked through the floor and walls. Dust rained from cracks in the ceiling. A deep, ominous groan sounded somewhere high above us, and the keep shook again.

"Get everyone out!" Elaine cried. "Sweep the upper chambers for maids and servants!"

The ninth-level woman had already regained her feet, her obsidian blade in hand. Radiant power streams emanated from her soul, bathing the room in light. Fiery red mana poured into the cracks in the room, reinforcing it.

Another tremor knocked me into Fable again, but I kept my feet this time. R’lissea, leaning against the wall for balance, raised her staff. Green light spread from her feet through the floor. Vines burst from the cracks, wrapping around everyone’s legs, up to their thighs. I squirmed as they held me fast, but as I tried to stumble forward, they adjusted, hardly hindering me at all. The vines stiffened when the next quake came, holding me fast until it faded.

At Elaine’s feet, Elise was kneeling over the emperor’s body. Golden light radiated from her hands, pouring into the darkness, obscuring his soul. The emperor’s chest rose and fell shallowly, his hands pale and clammy. Every surge of Fate Magic made him convulse as just a little more of the curse was eaten away.

"Hurry, child!" Elaine shouted.

Elise gritted her teeth, tears staining her cheeks as she forced out every drop of mana Celestial Grace had given her. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her muscles shook. I ran over, slipping an arm under her shoulders and holding her as she continued to work.

"I-I can’t do it," she gasped.

"You can. You’re almost done!" I whispered, hugging her tight.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and a flash of light erupted from her soul. I flinched, blinking starbursts out of my eyes. When my vision returned, the emperor had stopped moving. Shadows wreathed his soul, but through their depths, there was a faint light. Their root was gone, and the curse began to break, dissipating like fog.

Elise collapsed against me, gasping for breath. "That’s all I can do..."

Her eyes rolled up, and she fainted, head lolling against my shoulders. I smoothed the hair plastered to her forehead away.

"You did well, Elise. Go ahead and rest. We’ll take care of the rest....I hope," I muttered, looking at the southern wall darkly.

Grunting with the effort, I stood with Elise’s unconscious body. My staff materialized in my hand. The star lit up, and a golden gate appeared behind me. I let Elise sink into the golden swirls, watching as they rose around her like warm water. When her soul vanished from Enusia, I closed it and turned, looking up at Elaine. She stared at me.

"What’s happening?" she asked.

I sighed, meeting her gaze. "Do you remember your promise to me? It’s time to fulfill it."