Chapter 68: Assassination

Constantine once read about Teleportation Circles in some biography.

This type of large magical item possessed a power that truly reflected the wonder of Magic: long-distance Teleportation. In theory, as long as a user activated it with specific incantations and items, this circle could ignore distance limitations, instantly transporting large quantities of items and Humans to another Teleportation Circle on the other end, and it was not limited to transporting just the Spellcaster themselves.

However, accordingly. This Teleportation Circle that solidified a Gate, while convenient and fast, came at an absolutely steep price to build and maintain, even though it could only teleport between two specific Magic Circles. Moreover, the cost to use it was even more enormous—even a teleport between cities within a hundred miles would consume all the high-level Spell Slots of a Formal Mage for an entire day! Therefore, except during wartime and some special circumstances, even the King would not lightly use such a circle!

Being the Mage Tower of the Continent’s largest nation and also a Conjuration-specialized Archmage, Nikolai’s Mage Tower undoubtedly housed the Continent’s foremost Teleportation Array.

The so-called Arcane Arts Plaza was actually a hall on a certain floor of the Mage Tower. Following the traditional style, the space here was immense, definitely exceeding the general definition of a plaza.

A circle formed by dozens of pillars faintly separated the Teleportation Array from the surrounding space. The central area, a hundred meters in diameter, was empty, its entire stone surface covered in dense magical symbols. Together they formed that large, complex, and clearly extremely expensive Magic Circle. The entire Magic Circle was carved into the floor. Hundreds of large symbols were cast from metal, faintly emitting the unique luster of Adamantine. The lines connecting the magic symbols were clearly made of magical Mithril. At key nodes, there were also top-quality crystals of various attributes. Constantine frowned slightly… He had recently crammed on knowledge about Magic Arrays and had a good idea of the cost of these things—just these over a hundred top-quality magical Crystals alone were worth well over a million gold coins.

Three Archmages in purple robes had each taken up a protruding corner of the Array. Behind each of them were over a dozen Formal Mages concentrating intensely. The presiding Mage Nikolai now stood on the periphery. But as his withered ten fingers nimbly traced patterns in the air, a flowing band of light danced into being under his movements, giving birth to many strange magical symbols. These symbols then flew one after another into the gradually boiling Array.

From the outside in, the magical symbols of the Array lit up one by one. Thick Magic Power transformed into swirling mist, which then formed miniature tornadoes that surged back and forth in the great hall. The power of an Array driven by three such powerful individuals was naturally extraordinary. The Magic Circle seemed to be gradually submerged in water, with ripples constantly spreading across its surface. Both the Crystals and the magic symbols within the Array would distort slightly with these ripples.

“A prince of a country… that status probably qualifies for such high-level treatment… But the question is, what is the background of this Dellan? I don’t remember those small southern countries being qualified for such a grand show in Phoenix…” Constantine’s gaze swept over the dozens of pillars before him. There seemed to be an invisible barrier between the pillars; no one could cross it. Although the dazzling scene within was grand, what reached the ears of the hundreds of onlooking apprentices outside the Magic Circle was just a low, pleasant hum—this was probably why the Mages felt at ease letting the apprentices come to observe.

“Boss… you can’t be serious? Dellan is the foremost power in the south. Let’s not even talk about its territory, which is almost a quarter of Phoenix’s size. Just the existence of their Earth Dragon Knights is enough to make them famous…” Cheney, who was lucky enough to be teleported to the very front because he followed a Formal Mage, spoke with a voice trembling with excitement. However, the little fellow, who was clearly completely engrossed in the dazzling Array, didn’t seem to notice the somewhat mocking nature of this statement.

“Hey, you guys teleport often. Ever thought about one possible outcome?” Constantine, teased by his junior, felt a bit annoyed, so he asked in a low voice.

“What?” The chubby apprentice responded distractedly, mesmerized by the shimmering lights. Instead, Christine turned her head beside him. These days of interaction had made the young Sorceress extremely interested in Constantine’s endless stream of peculiar ideas.

“For example, when you’re undergoing spatial transfer, a mouse… or some other animal might be teleported along with you. During the teleport process, when you arrive in the other space, you and that animal might get mixed together. Then you could become a big mouse that seems human… or a person who resembles a big mouse…”

“Hey! Boss… no, Viscount, please don’t joke…” Even without paying full attention, the plump Mage Apprentice was startled into a scream by this terrifying prediction. He even forgot to watch the spell effects, but he immediately shrank his neck under the glares of dozens of people behind him.

“Teleportation is guaranteed by the great power and will of Boccob, so that kind of situation won’t occur during the process…” Christine took over the topic. Perhaps Constantine’s question was really a bit lacking in common sense, as a beautiful curve lifted the corner of the girl’s lips. “But… there are exceptions. For instance, if someone uses an incantation that interferes with teleportation… If you rashly teleport under such conditions, the best outcome would be the teleported arriving inexplicably in a place they’ve never seen before. If it’s worse, then the teleported person might float forever, screaming and wandering in the chaotic gap between spirit and matter, or appear at the destination as a mangled or fused-together corpse—though maybe not dead yet.”

Constantine was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t expected the young Sorceress to answer his silly question so seriously.

The reaction of the little fat Mage Apprentice beside him was much more intense… He stared dumbfounded, then rubbed his eyes hard. Christine, hailed as the Crystal Flower of Nikolai’s Mage Tower, actually smiled? He felt his world of perception somewhat crumbling. But when he numbly looked back, he saw that almost all the Mages in the hall, whose attention had just been drawn by his scream, were gaping as if they’d seen a ghost. Over a dozen younger guys had the same devastated expression as himself…

“Hummm…”

A faint, strange vibration grew louder and louder in the surrounding space. This process was extremely long, taking nearly half an Hourglass before the air over the Array finally twisted completely, forming a huge sphere!

“So beautiful…” Constantine muttered an exclamation.

Gentle points of starlight shone forth from within the gate, passing through that rippling, translucent sphere. Constantine saw some strange scenery—an infinite world with brilliant star clusters. Many tiny star motes drifted into the hall through the Portal. They seemed to be pure energy constructs, flawless and pristine. A breeze blew past his ears; it was the air being gently but irresistibly drawn towards the beautiful Starry Sky inside the Portal.

Innumerable threads of silvery light, without beginning or end, interwove into a vast, net-like substance, transparent and thin. Starlight dotted it like glistening dew on a spiderweb at dawn. A starry river flowed in the extreme distance. Only when his perspective pulled back further did he realize it was just part of a slowly rotating, spiral-shaped nebula spreading outward. Countless points of light glittered in the deep universe, dispelling the Darkness and cold that should have existed in the void.

“This is only visible in large-scale Teleportation Spells… That is the Astral Plane. In theory, it connects all known and unknown Planes. Even Gates mostly use that Plane for teleportation…” Christine also murmured, though the Formal Mage, being more experienced, showed a bit more resistance to the scene. “But ordinary Portals use too little power… they can’t show such a spectacular sight.”

“This is… just too spectacular!” The noisy exclamation came from Cheney, who seemed to be searching for words to describe everything before him, but the task was clearly too difficult.

However, Constantine didn’t seem to hear these words—the flickering starlight danced in his pupils, but his thoughts momentarily drifted elsewhere…

Could the other end connect to that world he was familiar with? The world filled with skyscrapers, planes, cars, computer networks… and all the familiar things, that world. If I could also possess such power, could I use it to return there?

For the first time in his life, Constantine felt such a fierce longing for power.

Although a rational voice in his heart reminded him, “That world no longer has any trace of your existence, nor is there any need for attachment… You are now Constantine di Friedrich Connarivis… You belong only here, this world…”

With a low, drawn-out incantation, the teleported individuals materialized within the Array—not like imagined particles gathering and reforming, but like transparent shadows gradually deepening until they became solid entities. Moreover, their movements didn’t seem affected in the least. The first to appear were six Knights in gleaming, simple breastplates, tall and powerfully built. Their attire and the banners they held bore the mark of the Kingdom of Delan. Despite the wondrous surroundings, the six Knights only swept their vigilant gazes around. The cross formed by two S-shaped letters seemed to be their greatest pride.

Guarded among them were six handmaidens and a young man wrapped in splendid clothing—that must be the Prince of Dellan… He looked noble and imposing. But when Constantine’s gaze brushed over that face with a touch of childishness, a strange, inexplicable doubt stirred in his heart…

The boy twitched his nostrils slightly, as if some scent in the air was stimulating his nerves. After experiencing so many strange events, Constantine seemed to have developed a very keen intuition for danger.

“Christine… is this teleportation over? It should be safe now, right?” he asked quietly.

“To be precise, the opening to the Astral Plane needs to close for the teleportation to be completely finished… So…” The young Sorceress paused, then revealed a faint smile. “Could it be you’re still worried…”

Her sentence didn’t finish because the girl suddenly saw the drastic change in Constantine’s expression—she followed his gaze and immediately noticed that among the group of over a dozen people, one of the handmaidens standing by the side suddenly moved!

A silvery gleam lit up in her hand as she swung it, and that gleam was aimed right at the neck of the Dellan Prince, who stood frozen in the center!

A shrill scream rang out, but the sharp dagger only grazed the target’s shoulder—another handmaiden screamed and threw herself at the assassin’s waist, hugging her. Although the assassin put a lot of force into the thrust, with this obstacle, her accuracy was obviously affected. She immediately struggled and pushed the obstacle away, but her target had already screamed and rolled to one side at the same time!

Cries of shock instantly spread from the center outward!

There was no time to thank the quickest-reacting handmaiden for buying them an extremely precious moment. With shouts of surprise and anger, the six Knights drew their swords. The voices of the Mage Apprentices watching from the periphery sounded more like cheers… or compared to their usual dull chores, they felt today was simply too exciting…

“Boss, how did you know something would happen? Could it be you…” While everyone else directed their shocked gazes toward the Teleportation Array, Christine and Cheney simultaneously turned their attention to Constantine beside them. The boy’s earlier comment now seemed to carry a hidden meaning… Cheney stammered as he spoke, while Christine’s words were much more practical. “If their fight doesn’t involve magical energy, it’s fine. Otherwise, it’ll be very dangerous!”

By now, the situation in the center seemed to have been decided… That poor woman had stopped moving. Five longswords pierced her body, pinning her crisscrossed to the spot. Although she stared wide-eyed toward the Prince and roared something, her blood-spurting body could no longer perform any meaningful action!

But at that time, no one expected that just when everyone thought they could relax a little, someone in the center did something that shocked everyone all over again.

“A chain assassination?”

A surprised Constantine narrowed his eyes slightly… One Knight’s longsword had already become a crescent of light—although he had drawn his sword along with his five companions, he did not thrust it at the female assassin… Instead, after a pause, he attacked the Prince who had already rolled to the side! The longsword in this Knight’s hand was not finely decorated, but Constantine could see with a little attention that a layer of phosphorescence seemed to flow over the blade. It might appear faint and dim amidst the bright light of the surrounding magical turbulence, but it proclaimed this longsword to be a powerful magic weapon!

A sickening sound of steel scraping bone echoed as the sword light swept past the Prince’s neck! Clearly, the attacker’s weapon was extremely sharp. The longsword cut through the tough neck bone as if slicing butter. Blood happily sprayed everywhere under pressure. The perpetrator was immediately marked with a dangerous sign; crimson blood rolled down his face, making him look like a Devil from the Nine Hells. Even though the target was certainly dead, he still, with bloodshot eyes, continued to stab at the limp body, again and again, like a madman.

By this time, people stunned by the sudden, violent changes finally reacted. A Knight roared and swung his sword at the frenzied assassin. The enraged force penetrated the simple breastplate and stopped the other’s slashing. But the next moment, everyone’s hearts clenched as the ghost-like figure threw away his longsword and tremblingly shouted something!

“That… quick, get away from here!”

The Lich issued a sharp warning from the amulet. Constantine immediately retreated, but it turned out his movement was still a step too slow—a dazzling flash of electricity fanned out from an assassin’s hand. It then leaped as if alive, conducting onto every nearby Knight wearing Armor. The powerful energy carried blue-purple arcs. The sharp, crackling hiss accompanied by screams shook the entire hall!

The opening to the Astral Plane had not yet closed; the old Archmage still seemed to be chanting incantations.

“Ah! Oh no! By Boccob’s name! That damned lunatic!”

For a moment, all the onlookers, regardless of robe color or status, almost spoke the same Curse from their mouths… Then, as if by agreement, they all made the same move. Everyone surged toward the single exit on the outer edge of the plaza. They screamed as if wishing they could become centaurs or Drider at that moment—in short, the more legs, the better!

“Hurry, go! The Teleportation Circle is being disrupted! We’ll get sucked in! Unless you’re an Archmage level, you’re done for!”

Cheney’s scream echoed in Constantine’s ear. The little fatty still had a bit of loyalty. Even while rushing toward the exit, he didn’t forget to shout a reminder… though his loyalty seemed limited to words. Using his physical advantage, he squeezed through the crowd three times and twice and vanished among the throng!

Constantine soon understood why they were so frantic… After roasting several Knights into charred corpses, that bolt of electricity seemed nourished to some extent. It raised its head like a snake. Then, with flickers of flame, the entire huge Magic Circle fell into a layer of bright, luminous blue! Then, the electric snake finally learned a skill not belonging to this Plane—the single-headed electric snake became a hydra, with numerous lightning tendrils spreading outward. With a boom, they crashed against the invisible walls surrounding the Teleportation Array!

The entire hall seemed to tremble from the sound. Around the pillars, countless cracks, like glass, spread through the air!