Chapter 212: Disrupting the Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 212: Disrupting the Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony
"The fire is beyond saving now. Is it really worth wasting any more time and energy?"
After clearing out the Elves and members of the Beast Academy who were frantically chopping down trees at the edge of the blaze to create a firebreak, I looked at the Elf before me and smiled.
"Witch, everything is going exactly as you wished! What more do you want?!"
"Nothing, really. Just curious. We’re acquaintances who’ve met a few times now, after all. Even though you usually just call me a lunatic, I figured it would be better to know your name. Don't you think?"
"You..."
"Unwilling to say?"
"Witch, you mark my words. I am Mona Timothy, and sooner or later, I will make you taste death!" Mona spat her name out through gritted teeth, her voice trembling with murderous intent—especially when she reached the part about making me "taste death."
"Alright~ I look forward to your performance." Even though she was still acting tough, her intensity wasn't bad. It really gave me that "big villain" vibe.
Of course, that didn't stop me from preparing to kill her.
I had realized that this place was a fantastic spot for farming points, but after only a few kills, everyone else had bolted. No one was a complete fool. As the fire spread, it became harder for me to monitor every corner; if they snuck off to extinguish the flames somewhere else, I might not even notice.
Unless, of course, they sought help from the Sea Clan, or... it rained?
I looked up at the sky. The weather in the exchange competition was preset: sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy. Even the day-night cycle was synchronized with the outside world, but the specific weather was randomized—though sunny days had the highest probability.
Right now, the sky was clear for ten thousand miles without a single cloud in sight. It wasn't going to rain anytime soon. I wasn't particularly worried about the weather system backstabbing me; even if it did rain, there would be omens first.
"Any last regrets? If not, say goodbye to this life of yours. This farce needs to end, don't you think?"
I asked the question, but I didn't give her a chance to answer. I needed to instill a sense of urgency in them—ideally, to goad them into action.
"I might as well tell you: from the moment these flames were lit, their ultimate target has been the largest World Tree of your Afuhemi Academy~"
Having said my piece, I sent her on her way while she was still staring at me in shock.
After all, she had said some pretty nasty things earlier. Retribution was only fair.
Sometimes I really couldn't understand if they had forgotten this was all a dream. I felt like I should transform into an arena host and present them with a Dreamscape Environmental Protection Award. Why were they so worried about the greenery in a dream?
They simply had no valid excuse to refute me.
Even if I hadn't said it, they should have understood why I started this massive fire. Did they think I ignited a blaze of this scale just to be a nuisance? Impossible. I wasn't that bored.
However, now that I had personally confirmed it, they were forced to face the reality of the situation. That last flicker of hope they held was finally extinguished.
Though it would take a long time for the fire to reach the World Tree, I still had to put in the work.
Of course, I knew the World Tree possessed immense power of its own. Burning it wouldn't be easy. But a threat is a threat, and execution is execution. If the fire actually reached the edge of the World Tree, the Elves would be utterly humiliated.
I wondered how the others from the Witch Academy were doing. Now that things had settled down on the Wizard Academy's side, they were likely searching for a ritual site.
I couldn't afford to be impatient; my own ritual site wasn't ready yet.
I wondered if a scorched earth would qualify as a site for a Witch Tea Party. For instance, the place where this fire started would be quite meaningful, but it felt a bit too ordinary.
As expected, nothing was quite as enticing as the World Tree.
At that moment, rituals began to rise and shatter across various points on the map. Following the Wizard Academy's failure, the preparation for the next wave of rituals had begun. The sheer speed of it was dizzying. If they kept this up through the night, was I even going to get any sleep?
No one knew how long the exchange competition would last. If one didn't sleep at night, they wouldn't last many days; they might even perform poorly the very next day due to mental exhaustion.
I just didn't know if anyone would try to sneak a ritual to completion during the night. The Witch Academy needed to pick up the pace as well.
Just as I was studying the map, planning where else to start a forest fire to pincer the World Tree, another ritual flared up in the distance.
"That direction, that distance... it's in the sea."
Rituals weren't unusual in the exchange competition; any academy could start theirs at any time. However, the fact that the Sea Clan had started one forced me to take notice.
Their Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony might even trigger a so-called hidden rule. The rules didn't state it explicitly, but the ritual's effects hinted at it—triggering small-scale tsunamis and the like. While these were just speculations, they were possibilities I had to consider.
Then again, I wasn't really afraid of that. Even if a tsunami came to put out the fire, would the damage caused by the tsunami itself be negligible? They might as well pray for rain.
One couldn't take things for granted. A tsunami could be used for much more meaningful purposes.
Therefore, I needed to see for myself what the Sea Clan was up to.
The ocean was the Sea Clan's home turf, but as long as I was on my broom, could they really land a fatal blow on me from underwater?
I mounted my broom and took one last look at my masterpiece from the sky. Satisfied, I flew toward the ocean.
Before long, the land vanished, replaced by an endless expanse of sea reflecting the colors of the sky. The open horizon instantly cleared my mind, as if all my worries had been cast aside in that moment.
But my good mood was quickly shattered.
"Witch! You... you dare to come to our waters? You really don't know how you're going to die!"
I looked down and saw a rather hideous fellow on the surface of the water. His face was severely deformed, far removed from human aesthetics. His ears were long and resembled fish fins, and there were slits on his neck that looked like gashes. Given that he was from the Sea Clan, those were probably gills.
But he was truly, home-wreckingly ugly.
I remembered that the Royal Sea Clan Academy had two affiliated academies: the Mermaid Academy and the Fishman Academy. If the beautiful mermaids I'd seen before were the former, then this ugly creature had to be an Ugly Fishman.
The guy had a foul mouth, and his insults were incredibly crude.
Had my reputation already spread to the Sea Clan? It shouldn't have happened that fast. I preferred to believe he just had zero class.
In response, I flicked my wrist and sent a Lightning Strike down as a warning.
The guy was agile. Though the spell still hit him, the protection of the seawater meant he probably just took a bit of a shock. He likely wouldn't dare show his face again after that.
Then again, it was just a casual Lightning Strike. Without a magic modification, its power was indeed somewhat underwhelming. Maybe he'd just been stunned and was currently sinking to the bottom?
I had to hurry. Since I'd been spotted and even provoked, the Sea Clan would likely soon know that someone was approaching their ritual.
Speaking of which, the Sea Clan's ritual was a real pain. In the ocean, there weren't many people or academies that could actually stop them. Consequently, the difficulty of their Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony was top-tier.
As for whether other Sea Clan academies would stop them?
Heh. There were more than three Sea Clan academies in existence, but only three had come to the exchange. Two were affiliates. What was the difference between that and a single academy?
When I finally caught a glimpse of the Sea Clan's ritual, I realized it was being held on an island—or rather, a cluster of coral reef islands protruding from the sea.
The main structure consisted of three islands, surrounded by numerous reefs of various sizes, some breaking the surface and others hidden beneath.
My arrival immediately drew the Sea Clan's attention. Or rather, they seemed to have anticipated an intruder and were waiting specifically for me.
Instantly, a barrage of underwater attacks followed. Some were spells from casters, others were Sea Clan weapons. Even for a skilled flyer like me, dodging on a broom was a struggle, and the protection spells on my body began to waver.
"I thought it would be those meddling Holy Angels, but it's a witch from the Witch Academy? Shoot her down!"
At the most prominent position on the coral island stood another member of the Sea Clan. Although her lower half had transformed into legs, a shimmering phantom of a fish tail still swayed behind her.
Upon seeing me, the intruder, she immediately entered a combat stance. Her Tide Blessing was even more exaggerated than that of the mermaid I'd seen before, Yvette. Seawater actually swirled around to protect the entire coral island—I wasn't sure if that was an effect of the ritual.
Of course, this was also the result of her fighting on her home field and the combined efforts of those around her.
This level of "fortress warfare" did catch me a bit off guard. Her skill in manipulating the seawater in this area was superb. I felt like I was surfing on a broom, being chased by waves and attacks.
"That's the spirit! This is more like it!"
I pulled out a Recovery Potion and downed it in one go. As I skimmed over the water, I smashed the empty glass bottle right onto an Ugly Fishman's forehead. The damage was low, but it was highly insulting.
My duel with the three Holy Angels earlier hadn't felt pressured enough, but now, that feeling was back!
After chugging the potion, I entered the zone. I activated my Practical Learning Spell and used Spirit Spell · Unity of Knowledge and Action for self-suggestion.
I found that with Unity of Knowledge and Action, it could actually substitute for many spell effects. However, after actual use, I realized the function of this Spirit Spell was slightly different from what I had predicted.
This kind of Spirit Spell leaned more toward a method of self-suggestion. I had thought it would be a coercive type. While it didn't meet my initial expectations, this kind of suggestion was, in a way, much gentler.
"Judging by how wooden you all look, I take it you don't know who I am?" While circling them, I spoke up, mainly to test their intel.
"You? Of course we've kept an eye on you. Yang Yuehan of the Witch Academy, the number two figure. I heard you and Tan Han can go back and forth. You should feel honored that we're responding to you with this level of force!"
"Tsk~ It seems you really don't know anything." A simple probe revealed that they likely had no idea what I had done to their fellow Sea Clan members.
I recalled that the Elves were supposed to have sent Elf Rangers to communicate with the Sea Clan.
What exactly did they communicate?
Was the alliance between the Sea Clan and the Elves not a broad strategic one, but rather an individual action by the Sea Clan?
"Didn't you seek an alliance with the Elves? No results yet, I assume?"
"The Elves aren't worth allying with! Yvette paid for that with her life, but we will avenge her. You don't need to worry about that!"
"Huh? Hahahaha!"
Upon hearing her answer, I nearly stiffened up and plunged into the sea. What kind of botched communication was this? Did the Elf Ranger they sent get slaughtered in the ocean?
I hadn't realized the Sea Clan's logic was so eccentric, but without effective communication, this really could be misunderstood.
"Witch! What are you laughing at! Hmph! You're just a cunning rat. Is all you can do hide?!"
"Nothing, nothing. Great! Keep it up!"
I didn't tell her the truth. Since they had misunderstood, it suited me perfectly. I could even stage a play of "Burning the World Tree and Drowning the Charred Wood."
I doubted this could be kept secret for long, but a misunderstanding is a misunderstanding; it wouldn't be easily resolved. Besides, I wasn't just hiding; I was also testing other uses for my spells.
For example, the potential for using Explosive Traps on the sea surface. Unfortunately, the results were poor. In every battle, I seemed to be able to perform micro-modifications on my spells based on the situation. While this expanded my range of Evocative Magic, it wasn't a revolutionary change.
It was like the application of the Floating series; that was a completely new way to use spells, though the price was higher consumption.
"I must say, you're so focused on me that your ritual has ground to a halt. Aren't you worried? If I recall correctly, it's quite difficult for your Sea Clan to hold a ritual, isn't it?" After observing for a while, I roughly figured out that they wanted to turn this cluster of coral islands into an altar for their "Crown Ceremony."
But this was a massive project. Just thinking about the preparation involved made my head spin.
The system must have factored in the cooperation of the three academies under the Royal Sea Clan Academy and restricted them accordingly.
Furthermore, once the preparations were complete, a formal coronation ceremony was required. If that was disrupted, they still wouldn't get any points.
Through constant testing, I unexpectedly discovered that the Rock Collapse Spell from the basic Evocation spellbook was surprisingly effective. It worked wonders for sabotaging their ritual.
It could significantly hinder their preparation speed. After all, I had come here specifically to stop the ritual of this unchecked academy and to scout out the Sea Clan's capabilities.
The harvest so far was incredible. I had been slightly worried about an Elf-Sea Clan alliance, but now they had become enemies due to a misunderstanding. I was even considering whether I should further escalate their conflict and cause a total rupture in their relationship.
However, after some thought, I decided against it. Too much talk leads to slips. It wouldn't be good if I accidentally leaked intel or made them suspicious.
"This seems like a good inspiration~"
After repeated attempts, I performed a magic modification on the Rock Collapse Spell specifically for this situation. The Rock Collapse Spell normally gathers earth elements to create a rock construct, which then shatters to cause splash damage. Because of this, it was one of the slower-charging spells in the basic spellbook.
Since it had several steps, each step offered choices for optimization.
Right now, I was utilizing the "collapse" effect of the rock construct's spell effect.
Normally, the soil of the earth is actual matter, not a construct of a spell effect, so the collapse effect wouldn't apply to it. However, I didn't need the actual rocks and soil to shatter enough to cause damage; I just needed them to crack and loosen.
This brought me to a characteristic of the earth element family in Elemental Theory: "Resonance."
Resonance is an inherent property of any element, much like the resonance between a fire spell effect and an ordinary burning flame.
Take the forest fire I caused, for example. In that environment, the fire spell effects would resonate with the surroundings, making their power even more terrifying.
Now, I wanted to use the resonance of the earth spell effect to affect the actual rocks, soil, and seabed, causing the foundation of that coral island to crack and disintegrate.
While this might not necessarily destroy their ritual, it would be enough to make their previous efforts go down the drain, forcing them to start from scratch.
Just as I was about to put this into practice, a pillar of light rose in the distance, and an invitation suddenly appeared before me.
"Hmm?" I caught it with a bit of a start, but quickly realized what it was. It was an invitation to a Witch Tea Party.
The Witch Tea Party had begun!
Were Tan Han and the others really that efficient?
In that case, I couldn't afford to linger here. I had to finish this quickly.
But... before I left, I would try out the inspiration I just had, even if it didn't produce a great effect.
"What is that thing?" The sudden appearance of an object in front of me naturally didn't escape their eyes, but they clearly didn't know what it was.
"Idiots, this is an invitation to a Witch Tea Party~ I don't have time to play with you anymore!" I waved the invitation in front of them while on my broom, then tucked it into my storage equipment.
"What! Stop her! Don't let her get away!"
"A moment ago you were trying to drive me away, and now you won't let me leave?" I mocked them, seeing their fickle behavior.
"Goodbye~ Come stop me when you've figured out how to fly!"
"Also, before I go, I have a big gift for you!"
Seeing them frantically trying to make me stay was honestly hilarious; it tickled my funny bone for some reason. But my hands didn't stop. The "Resonance" of the Rock Collapse Spell was like the "Floating" series—a revolutionary magic modification. However, it hadn't undergone combat testing or long-term trials.
The results were hard to predict.
But simply put, it was just using the environment to achieve a more favorable effect. Its application was limited, but it was still a brilliant spark of inspiration.
The water beneath this island wasn't actually that deep. At that moment, a massive earth construct formed, descending like a meteorite. I flew ahead of it to clear the way.
I made sure it would slam into the seabed to create the resonance.
"Idiot! Haha, you missed!"
The leader, still protected by her seawater, began to mock me when she saw that the strike hadn't hit a vital part of the ritual site.
I said nothing and quickly sped away.
If I wanted to leave, they couldn't stop me.
"Heh! Consider yourself lucky you're fast! I hope someone smashes your Witch Tea Party right now!" They watched my retreating figure, and though they felt it was a pity I'd escaped, they were still excited to have driven off a witch.
But before their excitement could last, a mysterious vibration shattered the atmosphere. As the resonance continued, the tides on the sea surface began to rise in rhythmic ripples.
"Stabilize the reefs! Quick! Maintain the ritual!"
"It must have been that witch's doing! Go check where she aimed her last attack! Hurry!"
After being shaken by the resonance, she saw cracks appearing in the reefs where the ritual was set up. In that instant, she realized the gravity of the situation, but by the time she spoke, it was too late.
The coronation altar they had built on this island began to subside. The mermaid presiding over the ritual showed a look of panic. Even by combining everyone's power, they could only barely keep the ritual from being completely destroyed.
Eventually, the rock construct on the seabed was destroyed, and everything returned to calm. But it felt as though the damage was already done.
"Witch Academy... Yang Yuehan... Our Royal Sea Clan Academy is irreconcilable with you!"
Even if the ritual hadn't been completely destroyed, the preparation for the Sea's Wonder Crown Ceremony was incredibly tedious. This was practically no different from direct destruction. Their progress had been reset almost to zero.
All their hard work was gone. She couldn't exactly expect the rituals of other academies to be constantly interfered with by others, could she?