Chương 50: The Seven Pillars

The first tremor lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to destroy the illusion of safety that had surrounded the Arcane Convergence. Students screamed as the stone beneath their feet shifted. Several magical lamps shattered overhead, scattering fragments of glowing crystal across the courtyard. The enormous formations that had filled the sky moments earlier collapsed one after another, leaving behind nothing but drifting sparks. Then the seven pillars began to move. Not physically. Their magic moved.

The energy surrounding them suddenly reversed direction, flowing downward instead of upward. Leo watched from the corridor as streams of blue-white mana disappeared beneath the stone floor.

"They're drawing power from the city." Gareth's expression hardened.

"How much?"

"Too much." Another tremor struck. This time, the entire academy shook. Students lost their balance. Several instructors immediately formed defensive barriers while royal guards rushed into the courtyard, shouting orders that were almost impossible to hear over the panic. Gareth turned toward Leo.

"Can you stop it?" Leo stared at the nearest crystal pillar.

"I don't know." That answer seemed to surprise Gareth. Leo rarely admitted uncertainty.

"The network is too large," he continued.

"Someone connected the seven pillars to something beneath the city. If I destroy one without understanding the connection, the energy could be redirected into another." Gareth understood immediately.

"So destroying the pillars could make things worse."

"Yes." Another tremor. The walls groaned. Gareth looked toward the students.

"Then we protect them until we find another solution." Leo nodded. That was the correct decision. He turned toward the courtyard. Alice was already helping several younger students move away from the damaged formation. Amon was beside her, using controlled flames to illuminate the darkened area, while Masha raised low stone barriers to prevent falling debris from reaching the crowd. Daniel was guiding students toward the western entrance with concentrated wind currents.

They had reacted without waiting for instructions. Leo felt a quiet sense of approval. They were no longer the inexperienced students who had first entered the academy. They had learned how to move when everything around them stopped making sense. Leo drew his sword.

"Gareth." The instructor looked at him.

"I'm going below." Gareth immediately shook his head.

"No."

"If the source is underground, staying here won't solve anything."

"It's too dangerous." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"I know." Leo looked toward the cracked floor.

"That's why I should go." Gareth stared at him for several seconds. Then his expression changed.

"You already know where the passage is."

"Yes."

"How?"

"I found it earlier." Gareth exhaled slowly.

"You're going to explain that to me someday."

"Perhaps." Gareth almost smiled. Almost.

"Take two guards."

"No."

"Leo—""If there are people behind this, they'll be expecting a group." Gareth's eyes narrowed.

"And you think they'll overlook one person?"

"No." Leo looked toward the eastern corridor.

"I think they'll underestimate one student." Before Gareth could answer, Leo moved. He crossed the courtyard without drawing attention to himself and reached the abandoned warehouse district through a side passage. The city outside was no longer celebrating. The streets had become chaotic. People were running toward the western districts while Royal Guards attempted to establish evacuation routes. Magical barriers appeared above several roads, dividing the city into controlled sections. Leo ignored them.

He reached the warehouse. The door was still locked. He placed his hand against it. Mana moved through the metal. The lock opened. Inside, the building was completely dark. Leo entered. The smell of dust and old wood filled the air. Nothing moved. He walked toward the back wall. There was the symbol. The same symbol he had seen before. He placed his palm against it. This time, the wall opened immediately. A staircase descended into darkness. Leo began walking. The deeper he went, the quieter the city became.

The sounds of the streets disappeared first. Then the vibrations. Eventually, even his footsteps seemed strangely distant. Leo continued downward. His Internal Energy circulated quietly through his body. He did not release enough to reveal his true strength. He simply kept it ready. After several minutes, the staircase ended. A long stone corridor stretched before him. Silver markings covered both walls. Leo stopped. He recognized the pattern. It was not an ordinary magical formation.

The symbols had been designed to redirect mana rather than create it. Someone had built an enormous network beneath the capital. The Keepers of the First Gate. Leo remembered Professor Elara's words. An organization that had existed more than a thousand years ago. Records deliberately destroyed. A forgotten purpose. He continued forward. Then he heard voices. Leo immediately stopped. Two people were speaking somewhere beyond the corridor.

"…the seventh pillar has activated."

"And the others?"

"Already connected."

"How long?"

"Less than ten minutes." Leo's expression became colder. He stepped forward without making a sound. The corridor opened into a massive underground chamber. Six people stood around a circular formation. At its center floated a crystal unlike the ones above the city. It was completely black. Silver lines extended from it in seven directions. Leo recognized the seven paths. The academy. The eastern district. The central plaza. The northern gate. The western district. The royal palace.

And one final location hidden somewhere beneath the city. The seven pillars were not the source. They were anchors. The black crystal was the heart of the network. Leo watched silently. One of the six figures suddenly turned.

"Someone is here." The others looked around. Leo stepped from the shadows. Six pairs of eyes turned toward him. For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then the man standing closest to the crystal smiled.

"So you came." Leo's hand remained on his sword.

"You were waiting for me."

"We were."

"Why?" The man's smile disappeared.

"Because we needed someone who could sense the network." Leo looked at the black crystal.

"You used the Arcane Convergence to activate it."

"Correct."

"You gathered thousands of people above it."

"Correct."

"And you connected the academy to the system." Another pause.

"Correct." Leo's eyes narrowed.

"What happens when the activation is complete?" The man did not answer. One of the other figures stepped forward.

"You're asking the wrong question." Leo looked at him.

"What is the right one?" The figure smiled beneath his hood.

"Why did the network react to you?" Silence. Leo's expression did not change. But inside, his thoughts sharpened. They knew. Not everything. But enough to have noticed the strange interaction between his Internal Energy and the underground system. The man continued.

"We watched the academy after the incident."

"You watched me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because when the seal opened, every magical sensor in the eastern district reacted." He pointed toward Leo.

"Except yours." Leo said nothing. The man took another step.

"You didn't react like a normal mage." Leo's grip tightened slightly. The man smiled.

"Tell us what you are." Leo drew his sword.

"No." The six figures moved simultaneously. The chamber erupted. A blade came from the left. Leo stepped aside. Steel struck stone. He rotated his wrist and used the flat of his sword to redirect the attack before driving his elbow into the attacker's ribs. The man staggered backward. Another figure raised both hands. A wave of earth surged across the floor. Leo jumped. The stone passed beneath him. He landed on one knee and released a controlled pulse of Internal Energy through his legs. Heavenly Demon Step.

His body disappeared from their immediate sight. He crossed the chamber in an instant and appeared beside the formation. The black crystal pulsed. Leo raised his sword. Then stopped. Destroying it blindly could bring down the entire network. He needed another way. Behind him, the attackers recovered. One of them shouted.

"Don't let him touch the crystal!" Leo turned. For the first time, he understood. They were not protecting the crystal from destruction. They were protecting it from him. Whatever the network was designed to do, Leo's Internal Energy could interfere with it. Perhaps that was why the system had reacted to him. Perhaps that was why they had been watching. Leo lowered his sword slightly. A dangerous thought entered his mind. If his Internal Energy could disrupt the network— then he might not need to destroy it.

He only needed to reach its heart. Leo's eyes settled on the black crystal.

"Then let's find out what happens." The six attackers charged. Leo stepped forward. And deep beneath the Royal Capital, the first of the seven pillars cracked. End of Chapter 50.