Chapter 1008: Sever The ck
<span style="font-weight:400">Elisae had a relieved smile on her face when she felt the spread of her new energy. As long as she could improve the lives of the people of Kross, she wasn’t really that interested in taking theirnd. After all, unlike other kingdoms, Kross had been quite resolute in their refusal. Without overthrowing and likely killing the King of Knights, there was no real way to absorb thend as she had done with the other nations.
<span style="font-weight:400">However, at the same time, she knew that such a conflict would be inevitable. The fact that she was spreading her energy to all that would ept it now was merely a prelude to prevent the wanton destruction that she had foreseen previously. The more people that inherited her energy, the fewer would be pulled into the battlefield when the time came.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Hopefully, it will be reduced to just Kross and his knights, though that is rather optimistic, even for me.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Elisae knew that there would still be sacrifices, that no matter what course of action she took, she could not avoid this conflict.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Finally…” James rolled his shoulders as hended on a, looking at the wastnd surrounding him. “It’s not ideal, but what could I expect from my circumstances…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, all James really needed was somewhere that he could gather his thoughts. He swept his perception over the, finding it barren, and shook his head. With a stomp of his foot, the surrounding earth was smoothed out, bing a ne of solid stone.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Let’s see…” James ran a series of mental calctions, looking for the ideal configuration for the energies that he needed to fuse. He had the theory in his mind, and only needed to bring it into the real world now.
<span style="font-weight:400">Along the stone floor, lines began to carve themselves into the ground. These weren’t fourth-tier spell diagrams, but rather third-tier. Although the popr belief was that higher tier magic was undoubtedly better, the same result could often be achieved with a lower tier, unless you were reaching for the limits ofplexity.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ten, fifty, a hundred, in a matter of ten minutes, more than three hundred spell diagrams were imprinted in the ground. Next, lines began to carve themselves, connecting these diagrams in a massive array as James stood at its heart. Each time a diagram was finished, his senses swept over it, ensuring that there weren’t any problems with the engravings.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now… let’s sever this karma, shall we?” He spoke up with a smile, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers to activate the first of the spell diagrams.
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<i><span style="font-weight:400">Dale, we need you back in the Administration Room, now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chelsea’s voice called out to me as I was working on modifying my new summons. My eyes widened, startled by the sudden shout.
<span style="font-weight:400">Without dy, I immediately ascended to the Admin Room, finding Chelsea sat on the couch with an anxious expression. “Is it time?” I couldn’t help but ask, and Chelsea nodded her head in confirmation.
<span style="font-weight:400">“He just set up a massive array of spells on an uninhabited. James knows that he won’t be able to get what he wants the first try, so he made fifty separate experiments, all with slight modifications. With his expertise, there is an infinitely high chance that one of these fifty will produce the energy he wants.”
<span style="font-weight:400">My lips twitched when I heard her words. “Isn’t he worried that the shockwaves of one failure would disrupt the others?” To my surprise, Chelsea shook her head in denial.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is James we’re talking about. Part of the spell he set up will transfer the energy to another region if it doesn’t meet the parameters he set. Although the spells were all created in the same area, there should be minimal interference between them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I gave a small nod at that, moving to sit down and begin purchasing the ‘lifeless world’ that would serve as a sacrifice for James to destroy. The modifier for a lifeless world wasn’t expensive at all, so this was only a drop in the bucketpared to what James had helped me earn through his many innovations.
<span style="font-weight:400">When a new world appeared in the void, there were bound to be those curious, wanting to check it out. It might even attract some void beasts, but there wasn’t much that I could do about that. Even if someone identified the new world, they would most likely report it back to their superiors before making a move themselves.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">As long as it is enough time for James to do his thing, it’s fine.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I muttered inwardly, turning my attention to the screen.
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<i><span style="font-weight:400">Numbers one through thirty-seven all failed at the early fusion stage.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James thought to himself, caressing his chin. Having observed the fusion of energy via his World Sight, he slightly adjusted the spell diagrams of the final set, issuing an order for the next batch to run.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Thirty-eight… progress, but still a failure. Same with thirty-nine. Forty… looks like it’s the sa-- hmm?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James had almost given up on one of the spells when he saw an instability in the energy fusion, only to pull his attention back to it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Forty has stabilized… Was my karma trying to get me to overlook it by inducing the tremor? If that had happened, the ‘failure’ would have been sent off into space.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">James focused more of his attention on this spell diagram, which became more steady after the initial tremor. <i><span style="font-weight:400">First stage,plete. Second stage fusion…plete. </i><span style="font-weight:400">His eyes widened, watching as the three energies began to integrate with one another. Although there were almost constant signs of rejection, it never exceeded the threshold that he had set.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Karma is not meant to be controlled. Fate is ever-shifting. It makes sense that this energy is inclined to revolt before it settles.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">James lowered his stance, bracing himself. ording to his calctions, this energy would have an extremely short period of stability after the spell hadpleted. In that period, James needed to rush forward and bind it to himself.
<span style="font-weight:400">The moment he sensed that the spell waspleted, his figure blurred, charging through the other active spells without a care. His body practically shed to his target, blue light crackling over his frame as he grabbed the clear gem it had formed in his hand. As soon as he had touched it, the gem turned pitch ck, an obvious sign that it had been bound to him.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Void! New world target! Now!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel’s voice echoed in James’s mind once he had obtained the energy. His eyes widened, stomping the ground to destroy the remaining spell diagrams, and then tore open a gate to the void.
<span style="font-weight:400">When James passed through the gate, he scanned the surroundings with his energy, cursing under his breath at how far away the new, undefended world was. He wanted to charge over, but found that his location was being locked onto by arge number of void beasts. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Looks like the dinner bell rang. I’d rather be off the menu.</i>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Ignore them!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel ordered again, and four more figures appeared in the void around them. James instantly recognized these four, being none other than Chel, Thea, Nora, and Treisha. All four of them released their powers at once,unching a series of attacks at the charging void beasts.
<span style="font-weight:400">Treisha became a beacon of magic, prismatic beams of energy firing out to burn or freeze the void beasts. Thea and Nora stood side by side, a circr pattern forming around their bodies,posed of light and darkness. Any creatures that entered their range seemed to dissolve into nothing. As for Chel, she took a deep breath and released an ear-piercing scream into the void that staggered numerous beasts at once.
<span style="font-weight:400">James hesitated, realizing that this brief interference would taint their karma as well. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Hurry up, you idiot! Deal with ours when you’re done!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Chel’s mental cry snapped him out of his moment of hesitation, and he turned to charge at the new world.
<span style="font-weight:400">Although he had just obtained his new energy, he had countless spections on how to use it. <i><span style="font-weight:400">First, issue an order to gather all negative karma at a single point between my fingers.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He focused, holding one hand forward with his index and middle finger extended. A pitch ck light gathered between his fingers, and he knew that the energy was doing its job.
<span style="font-weight:400">Holding this energy, he flew to the new world, waiting until he was right outside of it. Only then did he sh his hand out, creating a ck de that tore through the void. <i><span style="font-weight:400">And release!</i><span style="font-weight:400"> When Chel had yelled for him toe to this world, he knew what their n was. The only surprise was that Chel and the others had personally appeared to block the beasts attacking him. He could have dealt with those beasts personally, but it would have taken some time.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">No… if I had fought them myself, I would have used this karmic de, even if I lowered the output. Was she aiming to avoid that?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> James thought to himself, seeing the ck de create a massive gash in the shell around the world.
<span style="font-weight:400">Turning back, he found that the others were in an increasingly desperate battle. James held a hand out to manifest the gem he had created before, finding that it had once again turned clear. Now that he didn’t have the negative karma burdening him, the void beasts had instead been drawn to Chel and the others, who had shouldered a portion of the karma by helping him.
<span style="font-weight:400">He reached a hand out towards the four, adjusting his perception of space so as to let his hand wrap around them, even from this distance. They were startled, before allowing themselves to be pulled to his side. Without a word, he focused on the gem, drawing in the negative karma from these four until the gem turned ck once again.
<span style="font-weight:400">With that done, he fired off a second de of negative karma into the already broken world, sending a helpless nce to Chel. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Was that strictly necessary?</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Chel crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. <i><span style="font-weight:400">Karmic information void clone. You tell me if it was necessary or not?</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">James blinked, before his eyes went wide. He hadn’t thought about that, the fact that his karma contained all of his information. <i><span style="font-weight:400">So that’s why you had him make this world for me to target.</i>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Yup! Now, you going to deal with those guys, or not?</i><span style="font-weight:400"> She asked, jerking a thumb behind herself towards the void beasts that were charging after their escaped prey.
<span style="font-weight:400">James thought about it for a moment, before his right eye turned pitch ck. <i><span style="font-weight:400">I got this.</i><span style="font-weight:400"> He responded, a beam of energy shooting out and attacking the leading void beast, causing it to begin dissolving.
<span style="font-weight:400">Chel watched with a wide smile as he dispatched the void beasts with the Eye of Ruin. Once thest one had fallen, she tore open a portal for them to leave through, one that connected back to theirb.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s a long timeing, but wee home, boss!” Nora grinned when she stepped through the portal. “Finally, no more malfunctions, no more getting sprayed or sted in the face, no more randomly breaking systems, we can be a functioning institute again!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“How long was I gone?” James blinked, looking around. “I couldn’t really grasp the passing of time. It’s been at least a few years, right? And… where are Three-Fifty and Sirius?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“They ditched a decade in.” Treisha shrugged her shoulders. “And you were gone… about thirty years. It’s about time we get back on track with our research, isn’t it? All of our old projects were shredded to wipe out your name from theb.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“It was <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> bad?” He asked with wide eyes, to which all four girls nodded their heads.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The perfection chambers on-site broke one after another.” Chelseamented in a casual tone.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The stored pilot bracers caused an energy storm that destroyed the warehouse.” Treisha grinned, the twins looking at each other mischievously before finishing adding on.
<span style="font-weight:400">“And the divine forge spawned a metal demigod out of nowhere that wanted to eat us!” When James heard that, he paused, lifting a hand to speak, but couldn’t find the words.