Chapter 492: New Developments
The magic circle of Grand Aegis stretched out, encompassing a mile in radius with me at its heart, extending over the entire battlefield and well over half of the city. As I bound the final soul to the spell and completed it, the circle emitted a dazzling golden light that reached upwards, forming a shimmering hemisphere above the battlefield. With the sphere complete, the souls I’d selected within it lit up with a golden shimmer.
Grand Aegis worked by redirecting all force and magic absorbed by the individual shields to the greater magic circle encircling the battlefield. It possessed incredible durability, but if it sustained enough damage from sixth-level and above attacks, it would eventually crack and fail. Under normal circumstances, that is.
But my magic was imbued with the power of Adaptive Resistance, effectively nullifying any spell or technique below the seventh level, including the devastating mana cannons. Unless the magic surpassed that threshold, it wouldn’t even reach Grand Aegis, granting the spell near-infinite durability. Only attacks above the sixth level could truly threaten it, and those were incredibly rare, originating from only a handful of surviving individuals.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to observe the full impact of my spell. The moment I resolved Grand Aegis, and the golden hemisphere began to take shape, the torrent of lightning crashed into the ground just a dozen feet away. Electricity charged the air, making my hair stand on end, as powerful arcs of lightning crawled across the ground like hungry roots.
R’lissea squeaked and shied away as one struck her shield, leaving a hairline crack on its surface. "H-hey!" she cried, a pout forming on her lips. "Grace!"
As the lightning storm subsided, a figure rose from the blackened crater, wielding a spear with a long, sword-like blade. Electricity crackled around her, her irises flashing with lightning.
"Sorry I’m late," Grace said with a with a cocky grin, flourishing her spear dramatically.
R’lissea shifted on her feet, leaning forward to scold her. "Grace! What are you...I thought you were supposed to wait and–"
Grace shrugged. "Heard there was some cool fighting going on here. What was I supposed to do? Follow some damn boring plan and miss all the fun?"
Before R’lissea could reply, a scream pierced the air, and Verity’s body flew toward us, traveling at dangerous speeds. Grace frowned and raised her hand, releasing a big wave of air from her palm that caught the Fate Hero and lowered her gently to the ground.
With a gasp, R’lissea ran over and cradled the girl in her arms. Six magic circles blossomed around her, and Verity lit up with a soft green glow. After a second, she coughed a mouthful of blood, cleared her throat, and opened her eyes.