Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 378: Chapter 177: The Last Straw that Overwhelms the Mage Association

Adrian couldn’t help but ask his teacher, ”How could a druid even faint from shock?”

”When a druid sees something that goes against nature, they will fight to the death to eradicate it,” Fran said helplessly, ”It must be exhaustion that caused the faint. Although it was just a moment outside, a long time had passed in the illusory realm. They did resist to the end, but they had no idea they were in an illusion!

They saw what happened to that dwarven god of smithing and yet they still came running to experience it for themselves.

They probably thought that the druids, with their high resistance to mental magic, could be braver.”

Fran knew that these druids, no matter how cranky by nature, would never confront the vilest of evil gods like mages, so it must have been the total depletion of their strength as they tried to destroy those rotting corpses.

Just like Adrian, who had been inside for a while, only saw the most basic of evil creatures.

The reason Fran pulled him out of the illusion so quickly was that he was worried Adrian would suffer a more serious blow, which would really be a pollution of the mind.

”They probably thought it was mental magic cast by Silvermoon sorcerers, right?” Adrian laughed, ”Who would have thought that goddess would take matters into her own hands?”

Fran shook his head, ”Viola has always been too proud. It’s good for her to learn a lesson this time, otherwise, His Majesty the King, not fond of nitpicking, might just take matters into his own hands to chastise them.”

Allowing these druids to fly around the camp is William’s magnanimity. But if these fellows get greedy and try to pry into the King’s secrets, they are bound to end up in trouble.

Previously, the gods of time and space did not make much use of time magic, not because they were weak, but because it was too powerful.

It was just an illusion array augmented with the power of time, yet even the legendary druids could not resist it.

Adrian is a magister, fully aware of the fact it’s an illusion, yet he still lost all lucidity.

Fran observed the crystal ball on the desk, hoping to understand more about the laws of time.

”The sensation of accelerating the passage of time is indeed the power of time!” Adrian exclaimed sincerely.

He, too, felt like he had spent a long time in the illusory realm.

But when he woke up, the dwarven god of forging had just left.

For so long, it was the power of space that people saw dominating; the significance of time seemed only to manifest with the Undead Tribe.

This was the first time the power of time gently bared its fangs to the world.

Fran shook his head, ”Luckily, Hill didn’t see it, otherwise Viola probably wouldn’t have the face to see him again.”

Adrian couldn’t help but laugh, ”Where did Spencer arrange for them? Do I need to go check?”

”No need,” Fran said indifferently, ”I saw him hanging birds on the Forest Array. They should wake up soon.”

Adrian glanced at the crystal ball on the table, its light flowing, ”Good, another 10 minutes and it should be about over.”

Fran nodded, ”You don’t need to worry about them. Spencer has already considered their pride. Otherwise, being thrown into the Alchemy Hut with the people from the Mages’ Association would truly leave them with no face to show up here again.”

The silver light of the illusion array gradually faded from the camp.

The golden glow of the Defensive Magic Array also dimmed and switched back to its covert mode.

A smile tugged at the corner of Fran’s mouth as he watched the familiar falcon regain consciousness after waking up, its feathers fluffed up as it hopped around on the branches.

She flapped her wings and fanned her still-unconscious companions awake one by one, then settled down in the Forest Array and stayed put.

Faced with the risk of flying away, Viola indeed chose to stay put for the time being.

After all, Hill’s Forest Array could help them recover their strength and energy.

As for the druids, as long as they don’t revert to their true form, they can just bury their heads among the branches and play dumb.

But for the members of the Mages’ Association who woke up, all they could do was shiver in fear.

This was no longer just a simple matter of an illusion array; they had lost face for the Mages’ Association, and they could think about punishments later.

What really scared them was that this was a complete magic array, not a divine array.

The mages knew in their hearts what they were dealing with. To avoid trouble, there were many reminders to wear Alchemy Jewelry when entering a Divine Array.

They even developed treasures that could resist the divine mind-reading function for a short period.

These mages were wearing many defensive treasures, all aimed against divine arts.

That’s why they were so easily lured into the illusory realm.

Divine arts never target just outsiders; they are a double-edged sword, and nobles who can’t ensure they are good people simply won’t use them.

So no matter how powerful the Saral Kingdom becomes, the people from the Mages’ Association are not going to worry about it.

William will return to the starry sky eventually. Would his successor be as selfless as a deity?

When the new King takes the throne, the divine arrays used for surveillance will eventually be removed.

Then it will be the mages’ time to rule again, just like before, best to stay away from the Temple.

But now with this illusion magic that can see into the hearts of men, all the wealthier Great Nobility would surely use it, not to mention the King.

The contents of the illusion array can always be modified.

It’s nearly a noose tightening around the necks of those mages of the Mages’ Association, who take advantage of their profession to act recklessly.

Malice is actually quite challenging to conceal.

It’s just that the previous Kings and Nobles didn’t have the ability to uncover it.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent a great deal to cultivate mages of their own.

Those lessons were hard-earned by generations of mages who were deceived, and even so, they couldn’t prevent their own country’s mages from being lured away by the Mage Association.

There were few mages willing to offend the Mage Association for the sake of their own country.

Legendary Mages, of course, were not afraid of the Mage Association, but which king could command his country’s Legendary Mage?

If anyone truly had that ability, the Old King of Saral wouldn’t have met his demise so quickly.

Even then, when Fran was still an Archmage, he possessed treasures that could prolong life, but he would never offer them for the king’s use.

Spencer, standing outside the door, looked at these mages frightening themselves and suddenly understood why William considered this Illusion Array a greater threat to the Mage Association than anything else.

Master Fran controlled that core only because this was an experiment.

Provided with enough Crystal Stones, it could operate entirely on its own.

In time, the Royal Capital of Saral wouldn’t end up as these fools imagined, sinking into a quagmire.

Even if the high-ranking members of the Mage Association understood that such an Array was not so easily constructed, so what?

Once invented, it represented the greatest warning to them.

If the King of Saral, William, who could mine Crystal Stones himself, really became enraged, he wouldn’t care if selling Illusion Arrays for money undermined his kingly status.

The Mage Association should learn to bow to the King of Saral.

Of course, only those ignorant fools from the Mage Association could believe that this Array could be created by just anybody.

Adrian lamented, ”It’s a pity that this Array has no chance of becoming widespread, and we can’t modify it. We can only wait and see if someone in the future could combine Illusion Magic and Time Magic.”

”Perhaps in time, such a mage will appear in Saral,” Fran didn’t mind—he had never encountered this law and seeing its operations already held great significance for him.

Moreover, from the bits and pieces revealed by William, Fran had gleaned that the Gods of Time and Space were preparing to disseminate the teachings of Space-Time Magic.

They hoped mages could help them refine the nuances of their laws.

The Gods of Time and Space did not require faith, but they were very concerned with the perfection of their laws.

Fran glanced at the oblivious Adrian; there were many things he couldn’t share with him.

Hill, who could be told something, placed great trust in the Gods of Time and Space.

The God of Time and Space was indeed benevolent and brought many benefits to this world.

But all deities have their needs, and even the Goddess of Agriculture would require farmers’ worship before she was willing to bestow her blessings.

It was evident to William what these future deities desired, which divinity they aspired to.

Yet the God of Time and Space seemed to want for nothing, asking neither for faith nor believers and even forbidding his priests from meddling with the government in Saral.

Apart from taking revenge on the God of Nobility and the former God of Justice, it seemed he had little to demand from this world.

Even though he was of the Neutral Good faction, his numerous acts of kindness still left room for doubt.

Free benefits could lead to unforeseen consequences, as the case of the Moon Elves showed.

Elves embraced every Moon Elf with warmth, teaching them magic and even aiding their ascension to godhood, but are there any Moon Elves now?

This made many people quite cautious.

Although the Mage Association acted in repulsive ways, their indifferent stance towards the Gods of Time and Space also stemmed from these concerns.

Fran felt the same; he feared a world of the Undead.

Who knew if the Undead Tribe could succeed where Elves and Dwarves had not?

After all, the God of Time and Space had already become a Law God of this world.

Every Legendary being or deity aware of the planet’s situation feared their world being swallowed by another.

It wasn’t until the recent appearance of the Sun and Silvermoon that he realized, perhaps the matter of the Undead was a decision made by the three deities together.

There might be issues with the God of Time and Space, but those two would not have any.

If this world truly perished, the God of Time and Space could take his divine system and escape, just like the system of Elves and Dwarven Deities.

The Sun and Moon could not—they were bound to the fate of the entire world.

Fran knew he might be overly suspicious, but a mage’s nature is to question everything.

Like Hill, who would throw himself wholeheartedly into a belief, it’s no wonder he became a Magician.

Seeing how amicably those two deities interacted with the God of Time and Space, Fran felt the Gods of Time and Space were probably safe, or else he wouldn’t have chosen to side with the King of Saral.

Fran didn’t think he loved this world too much, yet he didn’t wish to be one of those who harmed his homeland.

However, only now had Fran let go of his worries completely.

Pursuing the perfection of one’s own laws might seem like a modest ambition to many, but Fran could understand.

There are always those who seek to elevate themselves without regards to matters of power and desire.

With a nature even a touch kinder, it was quite normal to reach the level of the God of Time and Space.

”Then I want to try and see if I can learn it too!” Adrian interrupted Fran’s thoughts excitedly.

Fran didn’t need to think to know he was excited about speeding up the creation of Alchemy Potions. A faint sneer curled on his lips.