Chapter 246
The Grand Mage of the Divination School hurried out, clutching his robes. In the meeting room, the other members of the judging panel nced at each other, each falling silent.
At the top of the Tower of Heaven, under the starry dome, two powerful magic arrays were set up. One array, gazing upwards, depicted the celestial changes, the progression of seasons, and the reflections of stars,s,ets, and meteors. The other array overlooked thend, centered around Igor Peak, epassing the Northern Ice ins, the Western Continent, and the Eastern Ocean. It reflected various changes, enabling the Magic Council to monitor the movements of powerful entities.
Usually, the magic array enveloped the entire kingdom, with mage towers visible across thend, and powerful spots visible even beyond the kingdom’s borders. This range was enough for early warnings, preventing skilled individuals from silently reaching the borders.
However, during times of need, with the support of legendary mages and numerous grand mages, the range of the magic array would drastically expand. Even the Orc Kingdom to the far west and the distant New Continent in the Eastern Ocean could vaguely be seen within the magic array.
Now, the legendary mage overseeing the Starry Dome called for assistance, indicating arge-scale magical reaction...
Where?
What kind ofrge-scale spell?
Who initiated it?
"I’ll go to the Lock area."The judge from the Curse School hurriedly stood up.
If it’s an enemy, if it’s arge-scale spellunched from afar to attack Igor Peak, then the Divination School would issue a warning, and the Lock area would need to adjust urgently. Despite having level 15 grand mages overseeing daily affairs and legendary masters looking after it, it was sensible to hurry there and wait.
As he left, judges from the Protection, Transformation, and Illusion Schools quickly followed suit. Old Sam lingered as thest one. Before leaving, he gave Garrett a deep look:
"Regardless, the weak protection in yourboratory is also a significant factor in causing this incident.
—You’d better think carefully about how to strengthen the protection and prevent the leakage of gue seeds. If it does leak, how to deal with it. Coming up with aplete n will also facilitate the review process."
It was about having aboratory management method, oh, called "Regtions on Biosafety Management of Pathogenic Microbiology Laboratories," and regtions rted to infectious disease prevention and control, right?
This was not a difficult task. The methods for cultivating bacteria should naturally include these. Otherwise, if an outbreak of meningitis urred in three days or smallpox in two days, would he still have a peaceful life?
Garrett nodded in agreement. He watched Old Sam close the door and leave, then took out a stack of parchment and a **Boundless Ink Pen** from the pocket of his chest. ncing around, he dragged his chair to the edge of the long table used by the judges, spreading out the sheets of paper, and began drafting, half writing and half copying.
The meeting room temporarily quieted down. Meanwhile, in the grand hall known as the "Starry Dome" at the top of the Tower of Heaven, it was a bustling scene.
Lady Endor, a legendary mage from the Divination School, wore a ck veil that fluttered without wind as she stood trembling in the center, holding a crystal ball high in her hands. Around her, twelve grand mages stood equidistant, either holding crystal balls, pendulums, or staffs adorned with gemstones, forming a perfect circle.
The crowd waspletely focused. Chanting incantations, twelve beams of light emitted from magical artifacts converged onto Lady Endor’s crystal ball.
The crystal ball emitted a brilliant light. The magic array on the ground also lit up, starting from small and vague to clear and distinct. Immediately, people bent down to observe and record:
"Southeast by east 40 degrees!"
"Distance — between the eighth and ninth rings!"
"Spell intensity — 10357! 10359! 10461! 10578!"
"Nature of spell fluctuations, divine magic!"
The faces of the grand mages in the hall turned serious. The magic array in the Starry Dome, centered around Igor Peak and extending to the farthest point of the kingdom’snd, was divided into three rings. Using this as a reference, they pushed out one circle after another. Between the eighth and ninth rings, at southeast by east 40 degrees —
It was precisely the location of the Radiant Church’s holy city!
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. Portals of teleportation opened, and solemn-faced legendary mages walked out of them. They gathered around the magic array, lowering their heads and focusing on the white light spots within the array, which were expanding continuously, measuring, calcting, and estimating non-stop.
"No fluctuations in the spatial barrier."
"The range isn’t concentrated enough; it doesn’t seem like a single-target attack of divine magic."
"Is there any major activity in the east recently?"
"If any, it’s farther east. It’s winter now, and there’s a possibility that the Orc Kingdom is mobilizing on arge scale to seize food. It’s unlikely for a lone individual to attack the Church City."
"What about the Blood n?"
"That old guy has been sleepingtely; he shouldn’t be causing trouble. Besides him, others aren’t worth such amotion."
"The intensity is still rising! 11143, 12056! So fast!"
"What are they nning? A grand wish spell? So sudden? Do our spies over there have any information?"
"No — with such a bigmotion, our spies are better off not moving. They could be easily discovered."
Two thousand miles southeast of Igor Peak.
The City of Radiance, the Miracle City.
The Pope, dressed in white robes and wearing a golden crown, soared into the sky above the Grand Cathedral of Radiance. On both sides, at the tips of the cathedral’s two towers, stood high-ranking clergy, each half-kneeling. Together with the Pope flying in mid-air, they formed a triangle.
One wore red robes, wielding a long sword; the other wore ck robes, holding an open book. With their heads bowed, they followed the Pope’s voice, praying in unison:
"Great Radiant Lord, you are the ruler of heaven and earth, the true god who created all things. We were born under your grace and nurtured by your blessings. You are the greatest, the highest, the holiest, the most merciful. May you watch over us, bless us, cleanse us..."
On the square of the Grand Cathedral of Radiance, thousands of clergy draped in white robes prostrated themselves on the ground, chanting along. The grand prayers echoed between heaven and earth, growing louder and farther.
With their prayers, a sacred and majestic power slowly emerged, descending from the highest heavens and enveloping the City of Radiance.
In the City of Radiance, priests, holy knights, judges, and ordinary believers all set aside their tasks and walked out of their homes, falling to the ground in worship. Even those who were seriously ill and unable to get out of bed struggled to climb out of their beds and crawl outside. A mysterious sense of holiness gripped their hearts, and with tears streaming down their faces, they prayed together:
"Most high and holy Radiant Lord —"
The brightness atop the cathedral grew stronger and stronger. The Pope held a golden disk in his hands, seeming to immerse himself in the light, or perhaps melting into it. If someone were to look down from high above at this moment, they might be shocked by a sight never seen before:
The upper half of the City of Radiance was crystal clear, immacte. Every cleric, every warrior, was enveloped in a radiant glow, as if heaven had descended upon the earth;
While the lower half was filled with ck, foul waters. Disciples d in dirty robes, whether luxurious or ragged, struggled and fell on the ground, their faces withered, their fingers twisted.
The further down, the dirtier and fouler it became. The radiance pierced through the city, prating the shanties of slums, where beneath dpidated roofs, twisted and lifeless,y bodies as desated as mummies.
The radiance continued to shine. The cathedral, houses, soil, and sewers, all were transparent under this prating light. At the edge of the holy city, near the riverbank, within the sewers, a skeleton lunged forward to the table and wrote down the final words:
"... Mysteries Persist!"
He stuffed the scroll into the skull’s mouth. The skull’s eyes, nostrils, and three gems simultaneously shimmered. The scroll vanished without a trace, and in the next moment, a white radiance swept over, engulfing the skeleton, the scroll, the table and chairs, and the skull, dissolving them all in an instant.
And this radiance swept over every inch of the holy city. Under eaves, in gutters, in mud, ck vapors billowed, only to vanish in the light. The cause of the gue, under the Pope’s fervent prayers, under therge-scale divine spell that concentrated the entire city’s power, finally disappeared without a trace.
Every person, whether recently infected or on the verge of death, whether blind or legless, everyone who still had a breath in them returned to their healthiest, most perfect state under the radiance.
They rejoiced and praised loudly:
"Great Radiant Lord, you are eternal and sacred, the only light..."
The divine radiancested from morning till noon, and from noon till evening, finally subsiding. The Pope descended slowly, apanied by high-ranking clergy, stepping slowly into the interior. At the top of the Tower of Heaven, the monitoring results of the magic array were reported one by one:
"The readings are starting to decline!"
"5287! 4016! 2179!"
"No high-energy magic reactions in the surrounding areas!"
"Ruling out the possibility of an attack on the council!"
"Alert lifted!"
The mages monitoring breathed a sigh of relief. Lady Endor put down the crystal ball, her voice hoarse:
"You’ve all worked hard..."
It was a false rm. Legendary mages dispersed on their own, gathering for standby, or just for the sake of attending the review meeting, gradually leaving the Starry Dome. A group of people gathered at the elevator waiting to descend, inevitably gossiping:
"...So, what exactly happened?"
"I don’t know. Have they gone mad?"
"Cleaning? Rooting out spies? It shouldn’t be, is there a traitor within? Division?"
"With such arge-scale divine spell, will the Pope retire next year?"
"I wonder if the orcs will take advantage of this opportunity tounch an attack..."
The mages gossiped, no different from ordinary people. As they chattered away, the elevator door suddenly opened with a ding, and a skeletal bird flew out, crashing into the necromancer of the reviewmittee.
The necromancer in ck robes quietly took apart a rib from the bird, extracting a message from its belly. With bony fingers, he unfolded the scroll, his lips moving silently as he read line by line:
"The gue is spreading in the holy city. First the poor, then the apprentices, then the acolytes and priests. Vomiting and diarrhea, foul and repulsive, the faces of the dead are withered, their skin shriveled. One person is sick, the whole family is affected; cure one, three get sick; save two, ten get sick. In ten days, ten out of fifty to sixtymoners have died, and ten out of twenty acolytes and priests are sick."
After the neatly written lines, there were two lines of hastily scrawled information:
"The Pope hasunched the **Purification** spell. Mysteries Persist!"
The necromancer in ck robes quietly clenched the scroll. He turned his head to the southeast, as if he could see the loyal skeleton lurking in the sewers, day in and day out, turning into ashes in therge-scale divine spell. He silently walked into the elevator with his colleagues, descended to the 120th floor, and finally handed the note to Old Sam on his right.
"That spy’s stolen goods seem to have been located."
Several heads leaned in to take a look. The transformation mage couldn’t help but sigh:
"This is another mess caused by young Garrett... By the way, where is he?"
"It seems like I left him in the office..." Old Sam hurried forward. From morning till evening, they had food and drink on the top floor, and Garrett might not have anyone looking after him... He was brought here for questioning again, but would anyone remember to bring him lunch?
Old Sam took a few quick steps. The meeting room was quiet, without a sound. He reached out to push the door, but his hand suddenly stopped.
"Hush!"<ul><li>Your invaluable feedback and ratings mean the world to me. Please take a moment to rate this novel at <strong>Novelupdate</strong>.</li><li>If youe across any mistakes within this chapter, kindly notify me in thements below, so that I can make the necessary corrections.</li></ul>