Chương 479: Chapter 474 - Empyreal Barriers

"Our empire has gone through many periods of upheaval in the past." The emperor's words carried across the open court. He stood front and centre on the main platform, clad in his royal garb, the crown on his head catching the light from the arrays below. The royal herald had finished his formal proclamations, and the emperor had now taken over with a speech of his own.

"None has brought us to our knees. Each has tested our endurance, our unity, and our resolve, and each has proven them equal to the trial. We are a people of steadfast will, conviction, and strength. Rarely is that as evident as today, when the product of our shared efforts is finally made manifest." His gaze moved across the gathered crowd.

"The Empyreal Barrier is not the achievement of one house, one office, one tower, or one order. It is a monument to what this empire can accomplish when those who serve it choose duty over pride and purpose over division. Even where there was disagreement over how this great endeavour should be carried out, all of you put your differences aside for the good of our realm and its people. As its steward and guardian, allow me to express the empire's gratitude to each and every one of you." He bowed his head.

It was only slightly, but there was real weight to the gesture.

"Thank you," he said. There was an earnestness behind the words that almost clashed with the regal distance he had projected until now. Part of Scarlett was even a little annoyed by how different it felt from the royal image she'd built up of him. At the same time, she couldn't help but respect how he somehow made two simple words feel like they carried the weight of the crown. She didn't know him well enough as a person to say whether he truly deserved that respect.

But after today, she wanted to believe it wasn't all just something she had projected onto him. The emperor soon stepped aside, giving place to Arch Wizard Ainsworth of the Ustrum Assembly. The old mage began speaking at length about the work they'd carried out over the past months, the coordination between towers, guilds, imperial offices, institutions, and the many difficulties the Assembly had helped overcome along the way. Scarlett didn't listen to most of it.

She kept finding her eyes drawn back to the emperor instead. Eventually, Ainsworth was replaced by other wizards. Dean Godwin spoke on the expertise Elystead Tower had contributed. One of the Isle wizards mentioned several of the rare materials the Rising Isle had provided. A representative of the Shields Guild offered a short, practical statement about the protection of the pylons and the cooperation of local defenders. Then came the Followers of Ittar.

Two of their deacons stepped forward, speaking about collective duty, sacrifice beneath Ittar's light, unity before calamity and evil, and a number of other similarly solemn concepts. These two Scarlett paid more attention to. After all, one of them was Deacon Davenport, an old man she knew secretly had a pact with a Vile. You wouldn't know it from his calm and peaceful exterior.

"The faith-filled, devout sort have that tendency of being long-winded, don't they?" a smooth voice sounded from behind Scarlett. She turned and was surprised to find Raimond standing there without his golden deacon mask, dressed instead in the simple robes of an ordinary priest.

"Deac—" Evelyne started, eyes widening, before catching herself.

"F-Father Abraham. You're here?" Raimond raised a hand, flicking a loose fall of brilliant hair over one shoulder as he looked at them with a pleasant smile.

"That I am indeed. A pleasure to see you again, Lady Evelyne. Lady Withersworth." He nodded to each of them before his attention moved to Scarlett, his smile widening slightly.

"And Baroness Hartford, of course. Though from what I hear, it's now 'Baroness Hartford, the Revenant Flame'. And here I was thinking I would merely wander through the crowd, only to stumble right into the protagonist of the earlier ceremonies. What a curious coincidence." Scarlett studied him.

"Do you not have more important matters to attend to at present, Father Abraham?" she asked. Like fulfilling his duties as one of the people seated in the Followers of Ittar's highest decision-making body.

"Oh, almost undoubtedly," Raimond replied.

"But as they say, too many layers of vestments make even a saint feel stifled. I was getting stuffy, so why not stretch my legs?" He gestured vaguely with one flowing sleeve towards the deacon currently speaking on the platform.

"Besides, I suffer from terrible stage fright." Evelyne brushed aside some auburn hair that had fallen near her eye, looking a little hesitant.

"Is it really alright for a priest to…bend the truth so casually?"

"Bend is such a wonderfully flexible word. The Book of Canon tells us, 'The straight path is not always the kindest one, for even Ittar's light bends when passing through glass.' Cisirne 6: 11, if you're curious." Raimond winked at her conspiratorially.

"Also, I'm sure our shining and forgiving shepherd up high has too much else to do to bother chastising a humble and still modestly young priest like me."

"I believe the texts also say, 'Let not the servant admire the light upon his own brow, lest he mistake borrowed radiance for his own,'" Lady Withersworth said, wearing an amused expression. Raimond turned to her.

"Ah, that is true. But the fault lies in mistaking borrowed radiance for one's own. A man may admire the light upon his brow, provided he remembers whose light it is." His smile brightened.

"And I, naturally, remain very grateful for Ittar's generosity."

"Is that so?"

"Quite so." The two of them regarded each other. Lady Withersworth's amusement deepened.

"I see. How very convenient for you."

"One must appreciate convenience where Ittar provides it." Scarlett cut into their exchange.

"Why are you here, Father Abraham?" Raimond considered her for a few seconds. The lighthearted air around him shifted. It didn't disappear entirely—with him, it always seemed to linger somewhere in the smile or loose posture—but something beneath it went still.

"I'm afraid I can't say for sure, Baroness," he said.

"I simply had…a feeling." Scarlett arched a brow.

"A feeling?"

"Yes." She eyed him for another moment, then nodded.

"Very well." So he was like her, then. She also had a feeling.

"But I won't steal your attention from the goings-on for too long," Raimond said, stepping up beside Evelyne as he faced the platforms.

"This is not the sort of event one gets to witness twice." His gaze remained on Deacon Davenport. Scarlett glanced at him again, then looked towards the place where she thought she had spotted Yamina earlier. She didn't see her this time. Too many bodies had shifted around the platforms, and the emerald robes had disappeared from sight. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Finally, Scarlett returned her attention to the proceedings.

They continued for a while longer. At one point, an imperial official stepped forward to explain in more practical terms what the Empyreal Barrier's establishment would mean, including the measures put in place for the Kilnstones that would cease functioning while it remained active. Most of those present had probably already considered all of that and made preparations. Scarlett knew Evelyne had spent a considerable amount of time doing exactly that.

Still, it was relevant information, so Scarlett listened closely enough to catch anything important she might have missed. Meanwhile, the wizards returned to their positions. Those on the platforms split apart, each taking a designated place near the various crystals and constructs, which Scarlett assumed were all pylons in their own right. Others moved to marked points across the court, spacing themselves along the paths of the larger spellwork.

The entire arrangement was too large for Scarlett to follow properly from where she stood, but there was an undeniable sense of expectation in the air. The emperor remained off to the side, surrounded by his officials, the crown prince, and the second princess, along with every member of the Royal Guard and several Solar Knights. Both the knight captain and the vice-captain were among them. Scarlett caught Leon looking in her direction at one point. Their eyes met briefly, then his attention returned to the crowd.

Scarlett sought out Mistress among the mages and found her standing on the most central platform together with Dean Godwin and the Ustrum Assembly's two arch wizards. That should account for every single one of the empire's arch-level mages. Though Scarlett wondered if she might be counted among them now. The arrays carved into the ground began to pulse. One by one, lines of mana ignited, spreading through engraved channels like liquid light.

Silver and blue flowed across the court, joined by white, gold, and deep crimson strands threading through the larger circles and sigils. Amazed gasps left sections of the crowd as reagents set along the lines dissolved into sparks and crystals began chiming. Pressure settled against Scarlett's skin, like the air before a storm. Around each wizard, runes formed. Some were small and precise, rotating in measured rings around their hands.

Not far from Scarlett, a few mages in darker grey robes furrowed their brows as mana moved around them. Larger patterns unfolded around the central platforms. They appeared in pieces, shifted, then corrected themselves as the mages adjusted the flow. It was less like watching a traditional spell being cast and more like watching an absurdly complicated machine being assembled while it was already running. One of the crystals on the nearest platform lit up from within. Then another.

The constructs beside them answered in sequence, their engraved surfaces filling with threads of light. Before long, the palace itself seemed to join in. A massive current of mana surged up from beneath the court. For a moment, it was so overwhelming that Scarlett could barely perceive anything else. It was deep and old, like a reservoir being opened. The dragon heart. The influx struck the central arrays, and every pylon in the court flared at once.

Several guests gasped as the light rose higher, but the mages didn't react. Runes kept forming above the platforms, enormous this time, each one hanging in the air for only a few seconds before breaking apart and being drawn into the centre. This continued for some time. Finally, something began to form. Scarlett didn't notice it at first. It started as nothing more than a distortion. A faint curve in the air above the largest platform where Dean Godwin and Mistress stood.

Then it thickened into a barely translucent surface, folding outward in a slow dome. Another sequence of runes formed, rotating in complex patterns as they spread across the sky above the platform before seeming to feed into the dome. The dome expanded, and the runes faded away. More runes appeared, and the process repeated. Not being a proper mage, Scarlett suspected that she probably couldn't fully appreciate the magic on display. Even so, she found herself a little awed.

The dome grew faster as more runes fed into it. Soon it had expanded beyond the central platforms. When it reached the guest sections, a ripple passed through the crowd as people instinctively stiffened. Scarlett held still as the edge of the forming barrier passed through her. It felt… strange. Not painful or unpleasant or anything like that. Just… confusing. Like a hand had brushed across the inside of her skin and failed to find whatever it had expected there. Scarlett frowned slightly.

For a moment, she worried there might actually be something wrong with the barrier, but quickly dismissed the thought. Mistress would have noticed. And the woman had no reason to tamper with anything beyond the parts related to their upcoming 'gala'. The barrier continued outward, sliding through the court and eventually beyond the palace walls. Scarlett couldn't see most of its spread from there, only the faint shimmer as it stretched over Elystead. A few minutes passed. Then the whole magical structure trembled.

The ground didn't shake, and no one stumbled. But Scarlett felt it through the mana around them. A sudden shudder ran along the half-formed barrier as if something distant had caught hold of it. That probably meant it had reached the capital's Kilnstones. That would be the first step. Use Elystead's own Kilnstone network to stabilise the barrier across the capital. Once that held, it would reach across Rellaria Lake to Bridgespell's pylon and Kilnstone, establishing the first true node beyond the city.

From there, it would move node by node and city by city, until the entire empire sat beneath it. The expansion seemed to pause after that first shudder. The wizards lowered their hands, some breathing more heavily than others, while the arrays beneath them dimmed to a steady glow. The fact that everything had worked so far was a good sign. The rest could take its time. The actual schedule for incorporating every pylon was one to two days, depending on circumstances.

Scarlett knew there were mages at her estate right now, preparing to connect Freybrook's Kilnstone and the pylon in her back garden to the barrier as well. Out of curiosity, she almost wanted to equip her [Garment of Form] and see whether its teleportation function would still work inside the barrier. She couldn't do that now, obviously. But she had been thinking about it for a while. It still wasn't entirely clear how much teleportation within imperial borders would be affected.

The Empyreal Barrier was supposed to target the magic used by the Hallowed Cabal, but it was hard to isolate only that. Especially on this scale. Chatter picked up among the crowd as the wizards took a break, and Scarlett listened absently to Raimond and Evelyne exchanging a few words beside her.

"Is something troubling you, dear?" Lady Withersworth asked, as she stepped closer.

"There often is," Scarlett answered.

"Yes, you are much alike in that regard." Scarlett gave her a questioning look, but the woman only offered a wry smile.

"I suppose you aren't sisters for nothing." She gave Scarlett a light pat on the shoulder, then pointed towards a group of Assembly wizards who hadn't taken part in the first stage and were now moving to replace some of the others.

"I believe we have a little time before they begin again. I meant to see how my daughter is doing for a moment. Will you be alright without me?" Scarlett looked towards the wizards and realised that Lady Withersworth's daughter was indeed among them.

"Yes, I will be fine," she said, nodding. Lady Withersworth watched her for another few seconds before smiling more warmly.

"Good." She offered Raimond and Evelyne a few parting words, then left them. Scarlett followed her with her eyes for a while before her attention drifted back towards the emperor and his cohort. The man wasn't doing anything especially notable at the moment, but Scarlett could have sworn he met her gaze briefly before turning to exchange a few words with the crown prince. Standing a little behind them was the second princess.

She seemed to be looking in the opposite direction, beyond the palace walls and towards the horizon over Rellaria Lake. What was she—? Scarlett followed her gaze. And froze. She blinked, and it was gone. But in that fraction of a second, she had seen it. A giant spire stretching towards the sky. Pale as bone, jagged in places, with something dark threaded through it like veins of old metal. No one else reacted. No one else seemed to have seen it at all.

But Scarlett couldn't tear her eyes away from the spot where it had been.

"—arlett. Scarlett." Evelyne's voice pulled her back. Scarlett blinked again. Several times. How much time had passed? Looking around, she realised the wizards were already preparing to continue. The arrays had started brightening again beneath their feet.

"Scarlett, are you okay?" Evelyne asked. Scarlett turned to her. There was worry on the younger woman's face, along with a trace of hesitation around her eyes. Beside her, Raimond watched Scarlett thoughtfully.

"I…" Scarlett began, then stopped.

"I am not certain."

"Is it…something I can help with?" Scarlett shook her head.

"No." For some reason, disappointment flashed across Evelyne's expression. Or had it been sadness? It disappeared too quickly for Scarlett to be sure.

"Simply be prepared," she added after a moment. Evelyne considered her, then nodded once.

"Okay." Her gaze dropped.

"By the way, I wanted to tell you that something is almost falling out of your book." Scarlett paused. The book in her hand now had a small gap between its pages. A single folded letter hung halfway out, as if it had almost slipped free. Her eyes widened. She immediately raised the book, turned it face up, and caught the letter between her fingers before flipping the cover open. The pages inside were completely blank. Scarlett turned through several more. They were all the same.

Her attention returned to the letter. A dark red seal without any mark held it closed. After a moment's thought, Scarlett broke it with her thumb and unfolded the paper. There is Actuality, there is Memory, and there is emptiness that should bear no shape of its own. That was all it said. Suddenly, the world around her lost focus. Scarlett looked up. The translucent outline of the barrier had changed. It was still there, stretching over the palace and the city beyond, but parts of it no longer looked like a spell.

Its surface had thinned in several places, leaving blank gaps where the light simply failed to settle. Like pieces of the world where definition had gone missing. Cries rose across the court. Scarlett lowered her gaze. Small openings had appeared throughout the courtyard. Each was little more than a vague outline without shape or colour. Some hovered above the arrays. Others hung near the platforms or among the gathered guests, barely visible unless you looked directly at them.

One appeared beside a nearby section of spellwork, bending the sigils. The empty outline pressed against the array, and the lines of mana warped towards it, shaping it. Almost as if it was using the array to decide what shape it was allowed to have. The outline deepened, and something moved inside. A Solar Knight swung his sword at another opening that had formed near the edge of the crowd. The blade passed straight through empty air.

When it came back, its edge flickered, and for a split second, the metal's outline seemed uncertain before snapping back into place. Scarlett's eyes shot towards the platform that had held the emperor and his entourage. The emperor was gone.