Law of Space and Time

Chapter 15-3: Sinister Plot (3)

The administrators around the competition platform were already prepared to intervene in case Erwin unleashed some type of devastating spell again.

All of a sudden, the weather began to take a drastic turn, and the sun was concealed behind a vast expanse of dark clouds.

"Here it is! It's that storm of swords from last time again!" some of the spectators exclaimed.

Indeed, this was the same spell that had taken the combined efforts of over 10 administrators to withstand during Erwin's first match, and waves of elated cheers rang out from the crowd upon seeing this.

The dark clouds were filled with countless glowing purple longswords, and the light radiating from the longswords made them appear as if they were menacing eyes in the sky, looking down at Erwin's opponent from above. The formidable storm of swords could fall at any moment, striking the beholder with a sense of awe and fear.

Erwin raised his staff, and the countless swords in the sky began to converge and compress, forming a gargantuan purple sword in the blink of an eye. The tip of the sword was pointing directly at the top of Lanyon's head, and the blade of the sword was riddled with countless glowing white runes. Lanyon attempted to use a levitation spell to evade Erwin's attack, but the giant sword followed him wherever he went, as if it were going to permanently hang in the sky directly above Lanyon's head.

Erwin was rather amused by Lanyon's panicked attempts to take evasive measures. He didn't want to be accused of intentionally causing unnecessary harm to his opponent again, so he didn't bring the giant sword down upon Lanyon. However, Lanyon was unwilling to surrender, and he was still putting up completely pointless resistance.

Erwin looked on with an amused expression as Lanyon scurried all over the competition platform, then shook his head with a faint chuckle as he brought his palm down in one swift motion, upon which the massive sword immediately came flying down from above.

Lanyon was so startled by this that his levitation spell was abruptly cut off, and he curled up into a ball in panic at the sight of the rapidly descending giant sword.

An administrator on the side of the competition platform hurriedly raised a hand to adjudicate Erwin as the victor, and Erwin brought his own palm to a halt, upon which the enormous sword abruptly stopped cold in its tracks only a few meters above Lanyon's head. At this point, Lanyon's clothes were already drenched in a cold sweat. He was panting heavily as he stared at the gigantic sword hanging above his head, and his legs were so weak from fear that they refused to support his weight.

A faint smile appeared on Erwin's face as he basked in the sense of joy and superiority that came with being a powerful magician.

"I didn't think that he would master the spell so quickly. Looks like his understanding of the spell has improved even further," Master Piro murmured to himself as he looked at the elated Erwin through narrowed eyes.

Following Erwin's first match, Princess Onean had already approached Master Piro to ask him about the nature of Erwin's magic. However, Master Piro has spent his entire life pursuing greater magic power and magic potion refinement, so his knowledge of space and time magic was also severely lacking. As a result, he was unable to answer any of Princess Onean's questions.

On the same day, Master Piro had asked Professor Hawk about why Erwin was so adept when it came to space and time magic, and Professor Hawk had seemed rather reluctant to provide an answer, dodging the question with a series of vague answers. Master Piro could only assume that this had something to do with the deceased wife of Count Friar. After witnessing the magic shield spell that Erwin had displayed on that day, Master Piro couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen it somewhere before, and only after meeting Count Friar did he finally realize where this sense of familiarity was coming from. That, in addition to Professor Hawk's reluctance to give a clear answer to his questions, gave him a rough idea of the circumstances involved.

With that in mind, Master Piro turned to glance at King Cameron, who was looking on with an indifferent expression. He then cast his gaze toward his prized disciple, who had a thoughtful look on her face, and he shook his head as he heaved an internal sigh.

"Don't get distracted, Onean. Your match is coming up soon," Master Piro reprimanded in a stern voice.

Only then did Onean return to her senses, and she nodded with a smile before getting up to prepare for her match.

The third day of competition actually wasn't even as spectacular as the first day of matches. Onean, Lana, and Jeff's matches were all in the afternoon, and they were able to overcome their opponents with ease.

In a tournament like this, it was naturally the case that not everyone could be happy. Sherry was very disappointed to have lost his match, and after watching Lana, Onean, and Jeff's matches, Erwin caught sight of Sherry as he was walking through the western contestants' area on the way to leaving the venue. Sherry was sitting by himself with a despondent and indignant expression, and Erwin gave him a pat on the shoulder as a gesture of consolation. Sherry could only lament his own ill-fortune for being pitted against the crafty Larwood.

Sherry's mood was lifted slightly by Erwin's arrival. Even though he could take no further part in the tournament, at the very least, he had met a new group of friends.

"Did you win your match, Master Erwin?" Sherry asked as he turned to look at Erwin.

Erwin nodded in response, then cast his gaze toward the setting sun. It was already dusk, and the winter chill was beginning to set in. He turned back to Sherry with a smile and said, "Don't be so down in the dumps. Let's go have a drink, it'll be my treat."

In order to celebrate Erwin and Larwood's advancement into the top 32 contestants of the tournament, Kaiba made a show of generosity to pay the bill for all of the customers in the Yanler Pub. He also sent a few horse-drawn carriages to bring over some of the finest hostesses from the nearby mansions to celebrate with everyone. The party was quite an eye-opening experience for Sherry, and it gave him a look into the extravagant world of the nobles, which Erwin and the others were all a part of.

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fuller and Archbishop Sirius of the True Light Church were discussing something while seated on the crude sofa in the secret chamber of the magic materials shop in Leah Alley. As usual, the room was extremely dimly lit, and it seemed to be the perfect place for all sinister plots to be hatched away from the light of day.

Prime Minister Fuller's face was completely veiled in darkness as he said, "I've already contacted General Gilgen of the Skycourt Kingdom, and he's already sent several dozen elite legions to the border of Burmen. In total, that should amount to roughly 150,000 troops."

"150,000 troops should be enough to alert His Majesty and Governor Jenkins's faction, right?" Archbishop Sirius asked as he turned to Fuller.

"As long as we can sow a seed of doubt in His Majesty's heart toward Prince Lazaar, Governor Jenkins's faction will definitely pounce on the opportunity to urge His Majesty to go to the front lines," Fuller replied in a confident voice. "Additionally, if His Majesty really does decide to strike down Prince Lazaar, then the troops from the Skycourt Kingdom won't be the only reason that he steps onto the battlefield."

"Hehe, as expected of someone who's been in the royal court for so long, you have His Majesty and Jenkins's faction wrapped around your finger," Sirius said with a sinister smile.

In contrast, Fuller's grim expression remained unchanged as he said in a slightly hesitant voice, "Everything will work as long as you can ensure that Lazaar will fall into our trap as we planned."

"There's no need to worry about that. I know exactly what Lazaar's intentions are. All he needs is a catalyst to set things into motion." A derisive sneer appeared on Sirius's face at the thought of Lazaar. "If he has no intention of rebelling, then why has he painstakingly gathered so many troops on the border over the years? On top of that, he's thoroughly invested in his three children. If any of them were to perish by someone's hands, he would definitely go after them, even if His Majesty is the culprit."

Fuller nodded in response upon hearing this, then asked with furrowed brows, "But Onean is just as precious to His Majesty. If something happens to her, His Majesty isn't going to execute Lazaar on the spot, is he?"

"His Majesty isn't an idiot. With the army of the Skycourt Kingdom invading the Effer Kingdom, how can they oppose the invasion without Lazaar's elite troops? The Royal Cavalry Brigade and those nobles haven't been in any wars for close to 20 years already. If they get sent to the frontlines, they'll just be slaughtered!" Sirius analyzed. "Of course, Lazaar is no fool, either. He specifically left his eldest son to hold the fort at Burmen. If His Majesty dares to do anything to Lazaar, do you think his eldest son will just let things slide?"

Fuller couldn't help but be impressed by how clear an understanding Sirius had of the state of affairs, but he then asked, "Then once Lazaar returns to Burmen, he's not actually going to start a war with General Gilgen, is he?"

"I don't think Lazaar would be so foolishly loyal. Wouldn't you agree?" Sirius wasn't looking at Fuller as he was speaking, and it looked as if he were raising the question toward himself. "If it's necessary, I'll drop him some subtle hints, and I'm sure he won't be so foolish as to declare all-out war on the Skycourt Kingdom. Having said that, I don't think that'll be required when the time comes."

"That's true. Over the years, Prince Lazaar has proven himself to be a master general and tactician. When the time comes, he may even end up contacting General Gilgen himself without us having to pull any strings," Fuller said with a sinister smile.

"Indeed. If Lazaar decides to do something, then you can count on him to be ruthless and decisive, so I'm sure he won't disappoint us," Sirius said. "At the end of the day, what I'm most worried about is whether that magic potion brewed using your Scarlet Dragon liver juices will have the effect that you claim it will."

"Rest assured, I've already tested it on one of my servants. I only used a single drop, and he's already gone insane," Fuller replied with a smile. "Most importantly, it's impossible to find out the cause of insanity and trace it back to the potion. Even I couldn't find any signs pointing to the potion as the cause."

"In terms of magic potion brewing expertise, your skills are on par with those of Master Piro. In addition to that, the potion has no color, taste, or odor, so they definitely won't be able to find out about it. However, if its effect really is as strong as you proclaim, then wouldn't Lazaar become suspicious and investigate the matter?" Sirius asked with furrowed brows.

"This is the backup plan that I told you I already prepared last time. I instructed the Lodais Organization to manipulate the evidence so that if there's an investigation, it'll be found that the Scarlet Dragon liver juices came from Jenkins," Fuller replied in an assured voice.

"That's brilliant!" Sirius praised with a nod of approval. "No matter how you look at this, Jenkins is the likeliest suspect."

The two of them exchanged a smile.

"By the way, what do you think of Count Friar's son, Erwin?" Fuller asked.

Sirius thought about the question for a moment before replying, "He's a time and space magician, and that's rather interesting. Wasn't Count Friar's wife the last time and space magician? It makes sense that he takes after her, doesn't it?"

"He's not going to cause any disruption to our plan, is he?" Fuller asked as he looked at Sirius with a cautious expression.

"He's still nowhere near powerful enough to disrupt our plan. Truth be told, I actually want there to be more time and space magicians in this world," Sirius replied.

"Why's that?" A perplexed look appeared on Fuller's face.

"These time and space magicians think that they're mastering the power of time and space, but in reality, every time they use this type of magic, the order of space and time will be damaged. Over time, the damage will continue to pile up and accumulate until eventually, the balance of space and time will be broken," Sirius explained with a smile. "Once the balance between space and time is destroyed, our omnipotent lord will be able to descend from his space into our space!"

"Then what are we doing secretly mining Fall Crystals in the Terarody Mountain Ranges? Can't we just wait until he masters time and space magic?" Fuller chuckled in an amused voice.

"Who knows how long it'll take until he reaches a level of mastery in his magic that'll allow him to break the order of space and time? The deepest part of the Fall Crystal mine is connected to the time and space where our lord dwells. Once all of the Fall Crystals are mined, the passageway will be cleared out. That is the main objective we should be pursuing," Sirius explained.

Fuller was naturally aware of this as well.

"I recall that Count Friar's wife died under very suspicious circumstances. Do you still remember that?" Sirius asked.

"I do. Apparently, she died from complications during childbirth, but it's been quite a few years, so I don't remember the exact details anymore," Fuller replied with a shake of his head.

"Back then, Friar and His Majesty were virtually inseparable, but for some reason, the two of them began to grow apart after that," Sirius said with a reminiscent expression.

"No one knows exactly what happened between them," Fuller said with a resigned shrug.

"Who knows? Anyway, that's a completely unrelated topic. There's no point in talking about such things," Sirius said with a shake of his head, displaying no interest in discussing this topic any further.