The Magic Empire's Dark History

She must be wondering why she was summoned here.

Looking at Kelisi standing respectfully to his side, Li Lin couldn't help but shake his head and give a wry smile. Was this Nia indirectly showing him something? Indeed, although Li Lin had long been dedicated to nurturing these Arcane Mages, he hadn't expected any of them to reach the level required to enter the center of the tower so quickly. It was truly remarkable. It seemed that in a few decades, she would probably obtain the basic qualifications to become an Arcane Mage.

However, that's merely a qualification.

Although Kelisi didn't know why she had come here today, Li Lin certainly did. Perhaps it was because the Elf Goddess had no other choice, perhaps it was because she really had no other options, or perhaps it was because she hoped that the Arcane Mage could hold out until the very end as he had said, instead of leaving early and taking his share. After Li Lin agreed to let the elves move to Ringwraith City, the elves also presented him with a gift.

Of course, in Li Lin's view, this was purely a case of being generous with other people's money.

Because that thing originally belonged to the Magic Empire.

At the beginning of the Magic Empire's founding, many elves joined the ranks of mages, which is not surprising, given that elves possess considerable magical talent. They also had ample time to learn magic, were naturally peaceful, and had greater patience than humans. In fact, in the early days of the Magic Empire, many high-ranking mages were elves, which even raised doubts about whether elves would become the rulers of the Magic Empire.

While most elves are peace-loving, this doesn't mean all elves are. Just as many elves left their homeland after the fall of the Magic Empire, choosing a different path to survival underground, this reveals an extreme trait hidden beneath their peaceful and gentle nature. Thus, even within the Magic Empire, a few elves chose a more assertive lifestyle, different from the majority. They advocated for the Magic Empire to gain more power, authority, and higher status, which naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the Arcane Mage. However, given that these elves were citizens of the Forest of Elves and high-ranking mages, the Arcane Mage, aside from advising them to be more respectful, did not impose much control or attention on them.

On the one hand, the Magic Empire is, after all, a land of mages, and the treatment of mages has always been lighter than that of ordinary people. This is not only because of class, but also because becoming a mage is a very resource-intensive thing. At that time, Arcane Mage such as Li Lin had not yet completed the systematic mass production of mage education, so naturally the treatment of mages was also much more lenient.

On the other hand, they did not actually cause any real harm. Just like a nobleman, if he only shouts "the poor are all lowly people" but does nothing to prove his point, then no one can do anything to him because of it.

Of course, the Arcane Mage's prestige and power were unmatched. Since the Arcane Mage clearly did not support their opinions, these elven mages naturally remained silent. However, they did not abandon their views. It's important to remember that at that time Magic Empire was still a newly emerging nation on the continent. Although the Arcane Mage's formidable strength was enough to ensure they wouldn't be invaded by any country, they clearly disagreed with the mainstream on how to demonstrate their power to other nations. They believed that since they possessed the power of magic, they should naturally use magical means to achieve it. As long as those countries saw the Magic Empire's powerful deterrent, they would no longer be disrespectful to their nation.

In a sense, this can be considered a form of patriotism, though such radical patriotism is unlikely to be officially recognized.

Therefore, these monks decided to "let their actions speak for themselves."

Magical techniques at that time were vastly different from those of today. The Weapon Spirit alone demonstrate that creating powerful magical weapons was not difficult within the Magic Empire at that time. These mages, using their connections or positions, secretly smuggled a considerable amount of magical construct materials. They naturally understood that such clandestine activities could not go undetected under the watchful eyes of Arcane Mage. Therefore, these mages hid in the Forest of Elves to research this weapon, believing that if they could successfully develop it, it would be the best thing for the Magic Empire.

However, as the saying goes, secrets don't stay hidden forever. The Arcane Mage's actions and immediately took action to thwart their plans. When they arrived at the mages' secret base, they promptly seized the unfinished product the mages were manufacturing. Subsequently, the Arcane Mage gasped in shock upon studying and analyzing this unfinished product.

While these mages may not be as skilled in manipulating magical arts as Arcane Mage, they are undoubtedly geniuses when it comes to imaginative ideas. The weapon they created is not simply for fighting enemies. In fact, according to the Arcane Mage's simulations, this weapon will not only cause immense harm to mortals but could even inflict considerable damage on the plane itself.

Such a weapon naturally had to be permanently sealed away. After all, at that time, the order of the upper Lower Planes and the Prime Material Plane was perfectly normal. The Arcane Mage did not know that an anomaly like the God of Justice would appear thousands of years later. Considering that the appearance of such a weapon would inevitably attract the attention of gods and demons, they sealed the blueprints of the weapon, then brainwashed or executed all those involved, and destroyed the unfinished weapon. Of course, the Arcane Mage were not without doubts at that time. After all, according to the mages' descriptions, they should have smuggled a considerable amount of magical materials, but some were missing during the final confiscation. However, at the time, they simply assumed that these had been embezzled by the mages themselves, so they did not pay much attention to it.

Now, Li Lin finally knows where those magical materials went.

At that time, the monks actually created not just one half-finished product, but two.

However, one of them was "stolen" by the Elf Goddess.

Perhaps she was worried about the power of the Arcane Mage, or perhaps she wanted to have a backup plan, but the Elf Goddess "took" this unfinished product and sealed it deep within the Forest of Elves.

Of course, for Li Lin, whatever the Elf Goddess's original intention was, it was not something he could accept with a smile—although, as things stand, it was a lucky accident.

After examining the weapon's blueprints in Nia's Eternal Library, Li Lin discovered that this weapon differed significantly from the weapon-making concepts of the Magic Empire. In fact, both then and now, the Magic Empire primarily used "energy" as its means of attack. Yi Aier and the myriad cannons she managed represented the ultimate manifestation of this method. However, this weapon was different; it emitted almost nothing tangible to destroy or interfere with matter. Instead, it achieved its destructive purpose by interfering with and distorting the rules of the plane itself.

This method is essentially no different from Li Lin's previous manipulation of the God of Justice's power of fate. If you demand that an object within a space can simultaneously stand above and below it, and simultaneously be both hungry and full, both tall and short, both fat and thin, then such illogical rules will naturally encounter rejection from the plane. And when these rules are distorted to a certain extent, they will affect the plane itself and cause damage to it. This weapon serves precisely this purpose.

Of course, given this, the mages' claim of "making the Magic Empire stronger" might need to be taken with a grain of salt. Using such a weapon in the Prime Material Plane would be suicidal. Therefore, Li Lin doesn't find it hard to suspect that this weapon was specifically created to deal with both upper and lower planes. Perhaps at that time, these mages harbored the same dream of "unifying the three realms" as the God of Justice. After all, having power doesn't mean they understand their own limitations; excessive power can also lead people to the edge of destruction and evil desires—this applies to mortals as well as gods.

The reason the Elf Goddess returned it to Li Lin was clear: if they couldn't stop it, or if their plan failed, she hoped Li Lin could complete the weapon and use it against Mount Celestia. Even if it was destroyed, her and the other gods' divine realms could fill the gaps left by the destruction of Mount Celestia (Li Lin, of course, didn't doubt their intention to expand their divine realms). However, if the Prime Material Plane shifted and the upper Lower Planes collided, all the gods would be plunged into endless battles and destruction. Moreover, they would no longer be able to obtain any faith power, nor could they replenish it. Such losses were something they absolutely could not afford.

However, Li Lin was quite disapproving of the Elf Goddess's generous gift. This was why, when Kelisi overheard his conversation with the Elf Queen, he even addressed the Elf Goddess by her real name. He felt that the Elf Goddess had handled the matter terribly.

It's important to understand that this weapon was always in a semi-finished state; in other words, it was never truly completed. Although the blueprints were there, if theoretical concepts alone could solve everything, would mages have spent so much time putting their magical ideas into practice? Furthermore, the weapon's actual effects were conclusions reached through deduction by several Great Arcane Mages at the time, and didn't guarantee its success. Besides, even if such a weapon were created, where could they test it? If they were to use it on their own plane, the God of Justice probably wouldn't even need to bother them.

The Elf Goddess may be acting rashly out of impatience, but that doesn't mean Li Lin has to follow suit. If she had brought this out a year ago or even longer, Li Lin might have had time to slowly restore the weapon. But now, with only six months left until Mount Celestia makes contact with the Prime Material Plane, she's only now offering up this weapon that she believes "can affect the balance of the war"—it's truly... she won't shed tears until she sees the coffin.

Ultimately, Li Lin came to this conclusion.

Based on the reconstruction of this weapon, Li Lin concluded that it required many mages to simultaneously infuse it with spells, many of which had completely opposite effects. In addition, a powerful protective barrier was needed to firmly suppress these effects, much like a bullet casing encasing gunpowder, which had to be strong enough to avoid harming the user.

The specific suppression will naturally be carried out by himself. On the periphery, Beika, the "Undefeated Guardian" among the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, will be in charge of the following part. Nia will assist him as his assistant to suppress the effects of these spells. In addition, to be on the safe side, Li Lin also needs several mages who are proficient in protective spells to assist him and avoid failure at the last minute.

Li Lin had initially thought Nia would recommend several high-level guardian mages for this mission, but to his surprise, she actually found Kelisi. Given Chris's current status and strength as a mid-level mage, wouldn't she have no problem participating in this kind of magical ritual?

Then, the other people who were supposed to participate in the ceremony arrived at the same place.

The magic related to nature was entrusted to the Elf Queen. Although she was not a mage, as the queen with the purest elven blood, her mastery of natural forces far surpassed that of ordinary mages.

In contrast to nature, the power created by humans is the part that Yi Aier is responsible for. When the Elf Queen unleashes the power of nature, the unnatural power is left to her to collect and condense. Fortunately, "Hymn of Destruction" itself has the property of gathering power, which is not difficult for her.

Divine power is Gabriel's specialty, and she is naturally in charge of this part.

In contrast, Angela would infuse negative energy of death and destruction to neutralize the opponent's divine power.

Next, the powers of summoning, manipulation, and countermeasure will be integrated into it, and will eventually become the core of this weapon.

"I think everyone should now understand why we've come."

After giving a brief introduction to the ceremony, Li Lin clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Frankly speaking, this is an extremely dangerous ritual, and we need people who are absolutely confident in their abilities to control it. If any of you are not confident in your abilities, then you can leave immediately."

Silence.

No one left. Kelisi stared intently at the solemn-faced mages while lowering her head.

From Li Lin's explanation, she had realized that this was a very dangerous ritual, and that she was responsible for a very important part of it.

Suppressing energies of different attributes and waiting for them to condense together? And then using protective power to suppress these potential energy combinations? Is that really possible?

Could something so impossible according to common magical knowledge really happen? She had never heard of any similar theories in books or in class. Thinking about this, the girl felt her mind becoming chaotic. She shook her head vigorously, but didn't know what to do.

"Kelisi?"

Just then, Li Lin's voice rang in her ears. She looked up at Li Lin. The Arcane Mage's expression was very gentle and tender as he gazed at the girl before him, awaiting her answer.

"Although you're not in charge of the most important part, I still have to ask... do you have a problem?"

The problem? She didn't have a problem, but was there really no problem? Such an important ceremony—if she messed it up, the consequences would be unimaginable. Perhaps even her future as a mage would be ruined. Although Kelisi had vaguely grasped the key points while listening to Li Lin's explanation, turning those thoughts into reality was no easy task. Thinking this, Kelisi raised her head and looked at the others. Angela stared at her with mocking eyes, her bright red eyes clearly conveying, "If you can't do it, then quickly admit you're..." The message read, "You piece of trash, get out." While Gabriel wasn't as blatant as Angela, her slightly uneasy expression revealed that the Archangel didn't have much confidence in the girl's abilities. The Elf Queen showed no unusual reaction; perhaps she didn't consider such a trivial matter worth her attention. Yi Aier smiled and waved at her, clearly welcoming the newcomer to the little maid's presence. Beika, like the Elf Queen, was focused solely on the ceremony at hand, completely unconcerned about Kelisi's hesitation.

Finally, Kelisi looked at Nia.

Why did Lady Nia summon me to participate in this ceremony? There are many protective mages in the entire Ringwraith City who are stronger than me. Although I have indeed mastered the skills quickly, I am still far from reaching their level. My protective mentor is also doing a better job than me. So why didn't Lady Nia summon those more powerful mages, but instead chose me, a mid-level mage, for this task?

Nia did not avoid Kelisi's question. She met the girl's confused gaze with a gentle and indifferent smile, just as she always was.

Seeing that smile, the girl seemed to finally understand something. She stopped running away, stopped hesitating and feeling lost, and finally made up her mind.

"No, Arcane Mage."

Kelisi raised her head again, her eyes shining with determination.