Chapter 280
Chapter 280: A Grand Moment of Calling Someone Mom
Viktor trod atop the surging waves, constantly leaping and dodging.
Magic Power rapidly gathered in his hand, forming several strands of pale, glimmering light.
Enormous Formations flickered with sudden bursts of radiance across this deep and turbulent space, accompanying Viktor's phantom-like silhouette.
Patterns surfaced swiftly around the Formations, linking countless circular rings and engravings together.
Runes were carved one after another into the space through the gaps between the patterns. An emerald glow gradually brightened—as though drawing out a thread of elemental origin and sealing it within the Formation.
【4th-Tier Magic: Shattered Stars—Jade Cascade】
The enormous Formation began to warp rapidly. The rings twisted against one another. Magic Power circulated within at tremendous speed.
Several blinding stellar lights burst from the Formation and hung in the air, unfurling hundreds of glimmering morning-star radiances that rained down toward the ocean's surface.
The 2 great dragons tangled within the cloud layer erupted in wave after wave of roars. Storms and thunder rose and fell in turn—as if they would tear the entire sky apart and leave a terrifying void in its wake.
Rolling lava beneath him and surging waves above crashed into each other. Scorching explosive steam broke through the surrounding space, slicing the ocean's surface open and exposing a deep, gaping trench.
Rolling storms tore at Viktor's clothing. Waves battered the black Coat relentlessly.
Viktor's movements below never stopped. Through the catastrophe he moved in rapid, fluid arcs.
The gales could lift his Coat—but the raindrops could not touch him.
He moved with complete ease. Swarms of fire sparks and lightning passed around him like darting fish, never grazing him by even a hair.
Countless stellar blooms finally cascaded down at once, shattering the black rock below with heavy, concussive force, cracking out fragments of dark stone debris.
The starlight struck Dozarel's body simultaneously. A flash of emerald radiance erupted, driving it hard into the depths beneath the split ocean floor.
In the distance, Lorelei raised her head, still staring blankly at Viktor—who had now been fighting the Calamities for 2 or 3 days straight.
He moved as though he never tired, weaving and rolling between those 4 Calamities.
In the sky all around, countless teal birds circled overhead.
They were Rashel's Natural Sparrows—and at this moment they surrounded the area completely.
Broadcasting this breathtaking, magnificent scene to the outside world.
And beside her, the Bear-man had begun, at some unknown point, to walk slowly toward the center of the battlefield.
Lorelei's heart jolted.
"Bear…Bear-man, sir…"
But Helnersen paid her no attention.
With a single leap, he plunged directly into the seafloor and swam toward the battlefield at tremendous speed.
Before Lorelei could even catch up, an enormous Magic Formation surfaced beneath the clouds above.
3 silver shattered figures gradually emerged at the center of the Formation, then came crashing down onto the ocean's surface to one side with a resounding boom.
Lorelei recognized the familiar Formation in an instant and felt a surge of joy rise in her chest.
Someone had finally come!
Heim Horn and Rashel Azure-Blue appeared on the ocean's surface.
The very first thing Heim Horn did was look toward the distant disaster zone.
4 Calamity beasts had fused the Elements together in their collision, with swaths of 4th-Tier Magic detonating within.
Heim Horn looked at the scene—and immediately fell silent.
He simply could not comprehend how Viktor had managed to trade blows with these creatures, matching them move for move.
He'd had this exact same feeling of bewilderment the last time he'd witnessed Viktor in combat.
And now, that feeling had magnified many times over.
Lorelei swiftly swished her fish tail and swam to Heim Horn's side:
"Heim, you've finally arrived—wuuuuu!"
Heim Horn looked at the mermaid swimming toward him and could not help but take a few somewhat reluctant steps backward.
As though something had occurred to him, he glanced around in all directions:
"Isn't someone still missing?"
Rashel spoke:
"I've already notified Cocotte Yadh, but she doesn't appear to have arrived yet."
Heim Horn: "……"
He knew Cocotte's laziness well enough.
There was no way she would be making it over any time soon.
So he pressed ahead as quickly as possible:
"The situation is urgent. I've done my best to notify the other Council Members, but nearly all of them are in other regions and cannot arrive for some time."
"As for the other Mages in the Council Hall—most have assembled. They are currently positioned outside the sea's boundaries."
He furrowed his brow, then fixed his gaze hard on the stretch of ocean where the 4 Calamities were located.
"We need a Formation conductor—and this conductor must possess sufficient natural energy."
Originally, that conductor role should have fallen to Cocotte.
But Cocotte's situation was a special case Heim Horn understood well enough.
Though she possessed formidable Magic Power, when it came to facing a Calamity head-on, she might not necessarily dare.
And right now, the situation was urgent.
They needed to find a way—while all the Mages were chanting Magic—to transfer control of the giant Formation to Viktor.
But… how were they supposed to get the message to him?
At that moment, a ship gradually drew closer. Heim Horn turned to look at the approaching vessel with some puzzlement.
At a time like this, how could there possibly be a human ship coming over?
Livi stood on the deck, looking down at the ocean surface below.
The moment Rashel caught sight of Livi, she paused:
"The Duke?"
Livi looked at Rashel with a smile. Erika was just behind him, looking somewhat nervous.
"Need some help?"
***
The Mages surrounded the Padalenbu Sea in a complete ring, a hundred miles in breadth.
Several thousand 3rd-Tier Mages, along with over a dozen 4th-Tier Mages, had gathered here.
This was the Mage Council—the full depth of Endymion's current strength.
And in truth, this was only the Council Mages who resided in the City of Mages.
There were many more affiliated Mage members who could not be reached in time.
They encircled the area together. Magic Power surfaced from each body, flowing and surging outward continuously.
Soon, thousands of streams of Magic Power began to converge in the sky, forming a transparent yet breathtaking Magic Formation.
It hovered beneath the cloud layer—an arresting sight.
Below it, over a dozen 4th-Tier Mages chanted arcane and difficult-to-understand incantations in an unbroken stream.
【At the hour of Niasoth's omen, the divine spirit passes through the nebula's illusory sea, standing in vigil upon the white night】
【The sky's hues begin to weave their dream at the world's floating center; the bright moon blooms through the underworld river, as the curtain's berth rises—】
Accompanied by the ethereal, melodic chanting, streams of Magic Power transformed into rotating Formations, climbing upward into the sky, pressing ever closer to the enormous transparent Formation above.
At this moment, as though sensing something.
Viktor withdrew from the Calamities' encirclement. He raised his head and looked up at the sky where the Magic Power was converging.
The Formation suddenly shattered. A transparent barrier plunged down in an instant, tearing void rifts through the surrounding space.
Viktor watched the Formation descend. The corner of his mouth curved upward.
At last—reinforcements had arrived.
Reileis and Dozarel continued to drive the lightning-wrapped ocean surging repeatedly against Gulton, the waves flickering with yellow-green light—as if intent on obliterating the vast Scorched Earth entirely.
But suddenly, they halted.
As though sensing some crisis approaching.
A vast and crushing surge of Magic Power came crashing down from the sky.
That torrent of light enveloped Viktor's body entirely. White light-dust fused into him in a frenzy—every pore seemed to be ravenously drinking in the Magic Power floating at the surface of his skin.
He bore the force of that tremendous pressure, feeling Magic Power surging into his organs and viscera without pause, as though something were expanding and resonating through him from within.
As Viktor sensed this, he took a step back and raised Ulruste in his hand.
The tip of the Staff in his grip drew continuously from the white light, flickering with a radiance as brilliant as the stars.
【Mage's Chanting Blessing—Max】
【Skill Precision】
【First Strike】
【Arcane Power】
【Magic Penetration—Max】
【Boon Dispel】
【Decree of the Thunder Lord】
【Phase Surge】
【Absolute Focus】
【Transcendence】
【One More Time】
……
Countless Buffs layered upon Viktor's body.
In that moment, his entire form seemed to radiate a profound, deep-set white light.
Then he slowly opened his mouth and began to chant an arcane incantation:
【Thousand souls flow through the river of reeds, crossing the ocean of clear knowing, converging here—】
As these words fell, another surging wave of Magic Power was released from the sky. The radiance instantly expanded by a full ring, saturating Viktor's body.
The Formation above gradually gained an additional rotating ring.
【The will of chaos shall cross the inverted river of the world, directing Thanatos to lift his great scythe and cleave apart the day of haze—】
The entire Formation erupted once more with terrifying Magic Power. The enormous Formation swept everything into its frenzy again.
But…
"Still not enough."
Viktor raised his Staff. The Coat on his body swung in the gale.
Across the Coat's surface, 3 differently-colored patterns rapidly spread, then began to pulse with a slow, flickering glow.
As though responding to some summons, the Calamity of Wind in the sky slowly raised its enormous dragon head. Those authoritative, regal dragon eyes looked down.
Even Gulton ceased its movements. The lava across its body stopped flowing.
Their forms gradually became insubstantial—as though they were on the verge of vanishing from this space.
Seeing the 2 they had just been fighting suddenly dissolve into nothing, Dozarel and Reileis likewise stopped moving.
Then, all at once, they felt a pressure of incomparable terror—transforming into a river of annihilation that swallowed worlds, rushing toward them completely.
That was the cumulative Magic Power source of thousands of Mages.
Dozarel and Reileis knew clearly.
In the prolonged battle before this, their strength had been worn down considerably.
If they took this head-on by force, they would surely suffer devastating damage.
In that moment, they wanted to leave.
If the 2 Calamities fled at this moment, they would certainly be able to break out of this terrifying Magic Power ring.
But just then.
Like something falling from the heavens, a small-scale Teleportation Magic descended.
The Teleportation Magic scattered into starlight points, revealing the silhouette of a golden-haired girl.
Erika gasped for breath, face flushed red.
The Teleportation Magic spanning nearly a hundred miles had left her exhausted.
But she had to come.
In that moment, Erika stood before the 2 Calamities.
Viktor was not nearby. The other 2 Calamities had gradually disappeared as well.
Only she—alone—facing them.
Standing before Dozarel and Reileis, she was like a grain of sand in a raging storm—incomparably small.
But just then.
Reileis and Dozarel looked at Erika—and suddenly froze in place.
As though some familiar feeling were compelling them.
【……】
【Mo……ther?】
【No……that's not……right……】