chapter 9: Back to the past (2)
The group turned their heads, each staring at Sylvea.
"What? Where would we find someone who could use it?" asked Sivarus.
Sylvea smiled, walking back and sitting on her throne in thought. She turned back to the group, still with a smile on her face.
"Not where, Sivarus. When."
Rufus grunted.
"Stop speaking in these stupid riddles. Tell us plainly," he said in frustration.
"Not just any time—the time before that thing woke up," Sylvea said, spreading her arms.
"But how can we accomplish such a thing? I understand you're the daughter of Chronos, god of time, but I don't think you have such control over time to be able to do this," Sivarus added.
"Not to mention the energy expenditure would be tremendous to achieve such an effect," Kendril said, readjusting his glasses.
"It's true I might not have enough mastery over time to send something that far back, but my father left me a gift before his passing." She pulled out a pocket watch from the folds of her dress.
"This contains some of my father's divinity. Using this as a catalyst, I believe I could send the null-magic back in time to find someone capable of wielding it."
"But still, the energy cost would be tremendous, and we don't have enough material to summon such large amounts of mana," Kendril said.
The group froze. What Kaisa was suggesting wasn't light at all. She was suggesting they all sacrifice themselves to power a spell that might not even work.
"Hold on just a second—you want us to sacrifice ourselves?" Rufus blurted out.
"It's better than dying at the hands of that machine," Riven proclaimed.
The group remained silent for a while, each weighing their options.
"We really don't have a choice, huh?" Lunara said, her head tilting down, tears threatening to drop.
"Well then, let's make sure we prevent this future from ever happening," Sylvea said.
The group lifted their heads with newfound motivation—to prevent such a future from happening, they were giving their lives.
The group then split. Rufus and Riven took off to the outer city, aiming to slow the advance of the enemy. Kendril and Sivarus started working on a spell strong enough to accomplish the job. Lunara and Sylvea gathered as many resources as they could.
As the four worked on the spell, nearly bringing it to completion, the unexpected happened. Vayne and Rufus burst into the spell room, their bodies in tatters, boasting grievous wounds, blood pouring from them.
Lunara rushed toward them, releasing a pulse of light that began to rapidly heal the two.
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
"They're way too many. It's their entire army, approaching this place way too fast. They'll be here in about three hours," Vayne said, still hunched over.
"Well, I'd suggest you hurry it up, then," Rufus said while still on the ground.
After a while, the spell was completed. The group looked at the ground where the spell had been etched. In the past, this would've probably been one of the greatest achievements in magic, but there was no one left to admire such an achievement.
On the ground, an hourglass was etched, surrounded by multiple runes, all covered by a sphere where runic engravings had also been etched. The black stone, which held the null-magic, had been placed in the center.
The group stood at the edge of the circle, ready to power it with their life essence. But not everything would go smoothly. A large explosion occurred, shaking the castle.
They're here, they all thought.
Lunara reacted quickly, deploying a barrier overhead as the castle was reduced to debris, falling in large chunks over the group. Another explosion took place, removing the chunks. The group looked up in horror.
The sky was covered—millions of drones and ships blotted out the sky, their weapons all trained at the barrier. In the middle of it all, a silver figure levitated. From its back, silver tentacles spread out, writhing in the air. Throughout its body and tentacles, red eyes littered it, each staring at the barrier. On top of its head, a floating red crown shone brightly.
Terror—that was the emotion that clouded the thoughts of the group.
"Quickly, Sylvea, begin the spell!" Sivarus urged, beads of sweat falling from his face.
Sylvea nodded. She raised her hands, the pocket watch floating above her. It began ticking slowly, golden mana flowing around her as the pocket levitated to the center.
"Now," Sylvea said.
The group nodded as they began channeling their mana into the magic circle on the ground. Its runes began glowing a myriad of colors as it shimmered. The stone and the pocket watch levitated, circling each other. The group knelt as even more mana was being sucked into it.
The silver figure in the sky watched this all with keen sight. It couldn't let them succeed—whatever it was they were doing. It raised a gun, a railgun forming at its side. It dropped its hand, the railgun charging up and firing.
Lunara saw this and raised a hand. A shield formed in front of them again, the blast slamming into it and canceling it.
The magic circle glowed even brighter as a pillar of light shot into the sky. A large spiderweb crack appeared in the sky. The sky groaned as mana rushed toward it, attempting to repair it.
The silver figure's eyes glowed even redder. It raised its hands again, and its army of drones and machinery aimed their weapons at the group. Multiple railguns formed. It dropped its hand again, and everything fired.
The sky lit up even brighter as millions of attacks were launched. But Lunara intervened.
"STOP!" she commanded.
Time slowed to a crawl, everything frozen in place. The lasers stopped moving. Lunara kneeled over, blood dripping from her nose—this had cost her dearly.
She gazed at the stopwatch and the null-magic stone as they slowly levitated upward, rotating even faster. Slowly, the figures on the magic circle began turning to dust.
"I guess this is goodbye, guys," Lunara said with tears in her eyes.
The group smiled as they looked up at the stopwatch, turned to dust, pushing the null-magic through the crack in the sky. They turned to each other, smiling, as they all turned to dust.
Time resumed as the attack slammed into the place, destroying the magic circle.
The silver figure stared at the crack in the sky, its silver tentacles writhing behind it. Its thoughts were unknown to anyone but itself.