Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy

Chapter 943: The Ritual ( 6 )

Far from the chaos of the Psychic Arts Faction’s village, three figures stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. The icy wind was nothing to them as they were all focused on the situation happening in the ritual hall.

Indeed, their faces were grim as they stared toward the distant horizon where the faint glow of Astarith’s energy had dissipated. They were even far enough that the mountains had already blocked their view but it didn’t stop them from knowing what was happening there.

Caleb one of the Half-Immortals of the Faction clenched his fists. He was renowned as an old practitioner of Psychic Arts and the oldest of the three, he was the one who had discovered the ancient texts detailing the ritual to summon Astarith. His usually calm demeanor was now filled with frustration...

He didn’t expect their decades of plan to go awry just like that.

”How did this happen?” Caleb said in frustration.

Lyra, the youngest of the group, wore a crimson robe and seemed to be alive... Her normally confident and proud stature was now showing great disappointment after sensing the death of the Ancient Devil they tried so hard to summon.

She was known for her expertise in mental domination, she had played a critical role in manipulating the villagers and other lower-ranked Arcanists into preparing the ritual. She really worked so hard for this event!

”That Shadow Immortal is too much. Even the Overseer wasn’t this strict! Can’t he just allow this to happen? We’re not even planning to offend his Domain!”

Dorian, a burly man with a bald head and a thick beard, leaned on his staff. He agreed on Lyra’s statement.

However, he knew better not to offend Vale.

They knew that a Half-Immortal could never compete against a True Immortal. That would just be a suicide. They could only grit their teeth and hope one day, they would no longer be impeded by this True Immortal.

”It’s over,” Dorian said as he slammed his staff into the ground in frustration. They could only express their frustration like this since they do no want to even meet Vale.

”Astarith has been defeated. All that preparation—months of effort—gone! Let’s just wait for him to ascend. It must not be easy living in this realm with pure Divinity. It might get corroded after a few more years and he’ll surely leave this place.”

Everyone agreed to this since Divinity was something precious that True Immortals needed in order to survive and to retain their power.

Since it was impossible to go against the Shadow Immortal’s will, they could only wait for him to leave this realm.

Caleb sighed. They weren’t Immortal yet and they could only live for around 500 years.

”We underestimated the Shadow Immortal. Vale... I hope not to seem him again.”

Lyra wryly smiled. Then, she waved her hands as she dismissed psychic projections that were monitoring the place in rapid succession.

”He destroyed Astarith like it was nothing. Should we consider using a different plan? Overthrowing the Church of the Goddess of Fortune must be too difficult even if we relied on Astarith’s power. Though it will only face the Avatar, Astarith might not actually be enough. Should we try and connect to a stronger realm?”

Caleb rubbed his temple...

”No... Astarith’s strength wasn’t fully recovered yet, so he was killed easily. It wouldn’t be the same if he had enough time to grow and devour those Holy Arts Practitioners.” He said.

Dorian spat on the ground.

”It doesn’t matter now. We’ll regroup. Astarith was just one step in our plan. We know that we could fail. The Church of the Goddess of Fortune is just lucky today. Someday, their influence will be eradicated, with or without Astarith.”

The trio had long harbored a vendetta against the Church of the Goddess of Fortune.

The Church’s blessings to the common people disrupted the Psychic Arts faction’s plans for control. With their ability to bestow fortune and protection, the Church had cultivated a loyal following that rivaled even the most powerful Ancient Families of the Arcane Factions.

Caleb had envisioned Astarith as the ultimate weapon to dismantle the Church. The Ancient Devil’s powers of corruption and mental domination would have turned the Church’s followers into a portion of food for the Devil.

After all, Astarith was supposedly in need of Holy Energy... Then, with the bindings of the ritual’s Arcane Circle, Astarith shouldn’t be capable of harming the members of the Psychic Arts Faction’s main family. As a matter of fact, they could easily return Astarith back to its realm once its mission was done.

Anyway, everything had gone completely off their plan so they had to rethink their options.

”We still have the Sanguine Crystals,” Lyra said, her voice sharper now. ”And we have the locations of the remaining divine relics. If we can corrupt those relics, the Church will weaken and stop their subjugations for some time.”

Caleb nodded, though his expression remained tense.

”True. We need to buy some time... But Vale’s interference changes everything. We need to move cautiously. The Shadow Immortal will probably not ignore us now.”

As if summoned by Caleb’s words, the shadows around the three began to shift unnaturally. The air grew colder, and a chilling voice echoed through the wind.

”Not cautious enough.”

The trio froze as Vale stepped out of the darkness, his figure still shrouded in a faint dark aura.

His expression was calm, so they weren’t sure if the Immortal was here to punish them or not.

”Caleb Mytheris, Lyra Veylor, Dorian Kaelthorn,” Vale said... These Half-Immortals were also in the reports of the Arcane Bureau.

”I had a feeling you three wouldn’t stick around to witness the consequences of your actions. I’ll give you two options... Work for me for the rest of your lives or die here...”

The three Half-Immortals were shocked as soon as they heard the True Immortal’s words... They were actually ready to fight for their lives as soon as he appeared.

None of them expected to be given a choice to live! In that process, they might even have a chance to convince the Immortal to side with their cause!

The three then looked at each other as they all made their decision in just a few seconds.