GDK 615: Blind Faith
“Forget about finding the attackers for the time being. The most crucial thing right now is to protect the pillars of the empire below us.” From that murderous face of Han Shuo’s, Ayermike Cotton could tell that he was about to seek those aggressors deploying the forbidden light magic and finish them all.
However, if Han Shuo were to leave in search of the casters right away, then there would be one less powerful shield to protect those at the plaza down below. From all the signs he gathered, the forbidden magic ‘Radiant Blast’ ought to be jointly deployed by several experts of the Church of Light. Even Ayermike Cotton did not have complete certainty of protecting every person below on his own.
“Right. Let’s shield the people below from the power of the Radiant Blast.” Han Shuo snapped out of his fantasy after hearing the reminder. He did not rush to seek and destroy the Church of Light aggressors.
On this subject, something was really baffling Han Shuo. His consciousness had an extremely expansive coverage area. Logically speaking, under normal circumstances, he should be able to locate at least a trail of those aggressors. He had fully concentrated his attention into tracking the havoc makers as soon as he spotted abnormalities with the element of light above the plaza. However, most unexpectedly, he couldn’t detect the whereabouts of those aggressors. This situation was obviously rather odd.
“What’s the matter? Why has the sun suddenly become so glaring? It’s making me dizzy and uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, for some reason, I’m absolutely stifled. Could it be that a rainstorm will pour down soon?”
On the plaza, those clueless nobilities raised their heads and looked all around with their hands shielding their eyes from the sun. Although most of these people of high positions had little to no experience in magic or martial art, nonetheless, they could sense that something was wrong.
As for those experts with unordinary achievements in their cultivation, they could faintly sense danger from the abnormality of the elemental energy of light. However, as it was the top-notch experts of the Church of Light who were deploying the ‘Radiant Blast’ magic, most of these people couldn’t give a precise explanation for the irregularity they sensed.
“Something isn’t quite right,” Lawrence, the King of Lancelot Empire, although poor in martial arts, was able to sense danger in the stifling atmosphere around him.
“I don’t know why but for some reason, the element of light has suddenly become very active,” Amyes, one of the three heavyweights of the Dark Mantle, cultivated in the elemental energy of light and was a light grand magus. His brows were tightly creased. From the circulation of the element of light he was most familiar with, he perceived a hint of peril.
“Your Majesty, there could be danger. Shall we evacuate Your Highness from the area?” Candide walked to Lawrence and proposed the idea with his body bowed.
Lawrence raised his head up at the bright sky and hesitated for a short while. His gaze started to scan through the crowd for Han Shuo’s figure. When he turned a full circle and discovered that Han Shuo wasn’t among the dense crowd of people, he came to a decision. His many years of seemingly blind faith in Han Shuo seemed to have an effect at this moment. Lawrence simply put on a smile and replied in an unperturbed voice, “It’s alright. With Bryan here, we shouldn’t be in any danger. The ceremony has yet to formally conclude. As the most important guest, how could I leave in advance?”
Candide was rather astonished to see Lawrence smiling, totally unafraid. But at the same time, Candide inwardly nodded in admiration. He thought that this king of his was indeed out of the ordinary. Prior to the event, Candide had seen Ayermike Cotton and Graeae arrive at the plaza. He was feeling fairly at ease as he had a rough understanding of the strength the two possessed. Besides, as there was no clear indication as to what was happening, he did not continue with urging Lawrence to leave.
When Han Shuo recommended Pegasus and Graeae to Candide, he had faintly indicated to him the level of strength that the two possessed. With Han Shuo’s guarantee, he believed that the two ought to be as powerful as he said. Although Candide did not know of Ayermike Cotton’s real identity, he had heard Han Shuo describe that Ayermike Cotton possessed strength a little above that of Graeae and Pegasus. Therefore, he felt rather confident in their safety.
‘Radiant Blast’ was a forbidden magic that covered a vast area. It utilized the element of light to produce intense radiance that rained down from the sky, vaporizing any living thing in its path.
Usually, the more destructive the magic, the longer it’d take to deploy. This forbidden magic known as the Radiant Blast was especially that way. Perhaps the attackers were mindful of how formidable Han Shuo was, as they had intentionally brewed the spell much longer than any ordinary spell. The radiance beaming down from the sky grew more luminous with each passing second. It had gradually grown so intense that the people at the plaza almost couldn’t open their eyes.
When every inch of the surface was covered with blazing light and the plaza seemed to be receiving direct blasting from the sun, those nobilities who had been rather unperturbed, all revealed looks of nervousness.
Students of all schools of the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force who came along with their teachers were panicking. They couldn’t help but make a racket.
“Goodness gracious! These, these seem to be the signs you would see prior to the release of the forbidden light magic, Radiant Blast!” Voigtlander, the dean of light magic school, had been feeling suspicious from the very start. It was only now that he suddenly recalled some information pertaining to the ‘Radiant Blast’ recorded on an ancient scroll he had recently studied. He shrieked.
A great majority of the crowd was terrified out of their wits by that shriek of Voigtlander’s. Not all of them were experts with staunch minds who could stare at death in the face. Everyone knew what forbidden magic would mean. Voigtlander, as the dean of light magic school at Babylon Academy of Magic and Force, would certainly not talk drivel at such a setting. Therefore, most people had utterly lost their heads when they heard those words.
“Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh… Forbidden magic…”
“So I’m going to die here? Damn it! I shouldn’t have come here. Now I’m so dead!”
“Your Majesty, please evacuate now. This really appears to be the forbidden light magic Radiant Blast…”
At the plaza, all kinds of voices of panic and hysteria rang out. Some of the students who lacked real-world experiences and some of those cowardly nobilities hollered and squawked. They were terrified to the point of losing their minds.
However, Lancelot Empire was a nation with an extremely rigid social order. Given that their King Lawrence was present and had not left the place yet, although some of them were wailing like ghosts and terrified to death, they would only stare at Lawrence impatiently and dared not to make an escape before he did.
“Your Majesty, given all the signs and changes to the environment, this is likely to be the forbidden magic Radiant Blast. This forbidden magic has been brewing for such a long time and its power must be exceptionally destructive. Doesn’t Your Majesty think that it’s time to leave and take shelter?” Amyes, one of the three heavyweights of the Dark Mantle, walked to Lawrence with a calm and collected face and gave him his advice.
By now, Lawrence too was feeling somewhat afraid. However, with so many of his ministers watching, Lawrence did not reveal his fear and kept his cool. He asked Amyes, “If this really is the forbidden light magic Radiant Blast, then, it should have an enormous coverage area. Do you think that we can escape from the blast zone in such little time?”
Amyes was stunned. He forced a smile, shook his head, and replied, “If this really is the Radiant Blast, I have strong doubts we will be able to escape even if we flee right now.”
“Well, nevermind then. Since escaping would be futile anyway, let’s just stand and wait here.” Lawrence pretended to be calm and smiled.
“Don’t worry. With Bryan here, not a thing will happen to us,” Fanny, who had just claimed her position as chancellor announced, standing on stage confident and smiling. It was as though she wasn’t worried at all.
“Yep. If that brat is here, this place will definitely be safe. You bunch of cowards, what are you all afraid about? Perhaps you will actually get killed if you run away from this area where Bryan could watch over.” After witnessing Han Shuo’s might, Firenze now had blind faith in Han Shuo, just as Fanny had. He looked at the cowardly ones disdainfully and ridiculed them.
After hearing from Lawrence, Fanny, and Firenze, those who intended on making an escape turned hesitant. Then, when they saw the three standing their ground so calmly, after weighing in their minds for a while, they decided to stay behind as well. However, they were still shivering and had no certainty of their fate.
They gasped, “The sky is turning dark!” As those adults considered their choices, a tender cry of surprise rose through the air.
When the crowd raised their heads and looked, they found the bright sky to be suddenly covered by layers of dark clouds. Those dark clouds looked like they were formed out of squid ink, and had blocked off the gaudy, brilliant radiance coming from the sky.
The view was as though a giant painting of the night sky had been rolled open, turning the sunny afternoon into pitch-black midnight.
While this unusual phenomenon occurred in the sky, a sinister, eerie aura enveloped the plaza. Multiple bloody radiances launched and fused with the dark clouds. They seemed to be altering the properties of the layers of dark clouds, making them even thicker and firmer.
“Bryan has made a move. Don’t worry, we will be alright.” Lawrence was so relieved when he saw the bloody radiances in the sky that he simply had to shout it out.
Having befriended Han Shuo for many years, Lawrence was long aware that aside from necromancy magic, Han Shuo also cultivated in an extremely mysterious martial art. Lawrence was one of those few who had seen him deploy his demonic arts. Therefore, as soon as Lawrence saw the bloody radiance, he became certain of his conjecture and knew that Han Shuo had taken action in protecting them from the Radiant Blast.
“That’s right. Bryan has taken action,” Candide calmed the crowd. He too let out an obvious sigh of relief.
Those with deep relations with Han Shuo and those who had seen Han Shuo strike were all greatly relieved. They blindly believed that Han Shuo could neutralize the threat of the forbidden magic that was targeting them. However, most of the nobilities and students who didn’t know Han Shuo that well were not as confident. They looked all around anxiously and were ready to flee for their lives at any moment.
Han Shuo, who had been putting on defenses with Ayermike Cotton and Graeae on the clocktower, sensed that the ‘Radiant Blast’ spell had ripened. “It’s coming! Get ready!”
