Chương 209

"And be sure to stay behind the barrier," Asteria commanded, and for once, Orion had no plans to disobey. I didn't put in all this effort bringing her here just to end up in more danger. Once the patrol witches had set up around the peak, Asteria recalled the Magistra and assigned her the duty of watching over them. Though the woman clearly wanted to protest, she knew better than to gainsay a Veil Priestess and remained silent as a shimmering shield of liquid silver was cast around them.

If [Hypotheticism] was right, then that single spell could withstand a direct hit from a tier four being, and it seemed the Magistra knew it, given the awed look she gave the construct. Orion was equally amazed, but for different reasons. He could tell that the light mana was only part of what built its structure. Thousands of small compounds made up the rest, and although he hadn't seen his mother brew anything like that before, it was clear to him that this was some kind of hybrid between a potion and a spell.

Seems like I'm not the only one experimenting with casting styles.

"Magistra," Asteria said without looking back.

"If even a single hair on their heads is singed, you will spend the next decade harvesting in the volcanic vents."

"Yes, Veil Priestess!" the woman replied, scrambling to reinforce the dome with her own mana and positioning herself between the students and the observatory. It wasn't really necessary, since the silver barrier was stronger than anything she could cast, but it still showed her willingness to protect them. Asteria turned toward the ancient bronze doors and reached into the pockets of her battle robes, pulling out three small glass vials.

With a flick of her wrist, she tossed them into the air, and they began orbiting her head like miniature moons, glowing with vibrant colors.

"Knock, knock," she whispered, pointing her wand at the doors. A single drop of liquid from the orbiting blue vial shot forward, accelerating to the speed of a bullet, melting through the snow and striking them dead center. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the bronze groaned. The metal shifted to a vivid shade of green, then disintegrated into rust dust in the blink of an eye.

The doors that had withstood the test of time for centuries, and probably even longer than a millennium, were reduced to a pile of oxidized powder at the whim of a single witch. A roar responded to her challenge just a few seconds later; it was a sound so deep that it rattled in Orion's chest.

"And that's why I put up such a fuss," he muttered, earning an amused look from Selene. They didn't have to wait long for the monster to reveal itself, and Orion leaned forward, intrigued by its origin. He could only tell that it far surpassed him, but that wasn't uncommon in the upper peaks. It turned out to be a Frost Wyvern, but twisted. It stood twenty feet tall at the shoulder, and its wings dragged on the stone.

Its scales probably once reflected a glacier's color gradient, but now they were cracked and leaking the same grey, oily corruption Orion had discovered in the cores. Its eyes were milky white, blind with madness, yet it still turned unerringly toward the source of the magic.

[Frost Wyvern - Corrupted Lord] Class: [Lord of the Frozen Peak] [B-rank] Level: 148 Mind: 310 Attunement: 999 Body: 690 Traits: Mana Manipulation [B-rank]; Frozen Wasteland [B-rank]; Son of the Wind [B-rank]; Ice Breath [B-rank] Although confident in his mother's skills, Orion couldn't help but gasp when he saw the wyvern's status.

It was at the very upper end of tier three, and he already knew that corrupted monsters would be even more aggressive, using everything in their arsenal to attack their enemies, regardless of the damage they caused themselves. Instinctively, he moved toward her as if to warn her, but the Magistra stopped him before he could.

"Stay back, child," she hissed.

"Watch and learn how a true witch fights." The wyvern finished extracting itself from the observatory, and as soon as it could fully stretch its limbs, it lunged at Asteria, exhaling a cone of super-cooled fog that instantly froze the air into ice spikes. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! She didn't react to the threat display, snapping her fingers and warping the space around her.

She vanished, reappearing thirty feet in the air directly above the beast. She's even managed to find time to improve her teleportation skills. I know how much she hated it, so it must have been a tough grind. A vial of clear liquid floated from her belt. She telekinetically uncorked it, and a stream of fluid shot out, hitting the Wyvern's exposed neck. The beast shrieked as the liquid hissed against its scales. It thrashed, its tail whipping around to smash the stone platform Asteria had just vacated.

Orion silently watched as his mother tested the monster, provoking a reaction when struck but never delivering a truly damaging blow. It was obvious to him that she could have, if she had wanted to, but prioritizing learning more about this threat was more important, especially since she seemed to be in complete control so far. After being batted aside for the fourth time, the Wyvern seemed to have had enough and flapped its tattered wings, jumping into the air to meet her.

It opened its mouth, ready to bite her in half. Asteria also appeared to finish her analysis, as she made a gathering gesture with her free hand, causing the three orbiting vials to collide in mid-air. The glass dissolved, and the liquids merged into a swirling sphere of golden sludge that echoed through the surrounding field, and Orion even saw the silver shield ripple as it emerged. The Magistra intensified her efforts, clearly in over her head but unwilling to stop trying, and for that, Orion could respect her.

She was still annoying, though. The Wyvern snapped its jaws shut, just inches from Asteria's boots, as she kicked off the air itself, flipping backward with supernatural grace. As she inverted, she hurled the golden sphere directly into the Wyvern's open mouth, where it was swallowed without much concern. Having studied the local monsters over the years, Orion knew that wyrms and draconic creatures all had powerful stomach acids, regardless of their element.

He doubted that thing ever had to fear eating anything, but that would probably change soon. The Wyvern finished its lunge and was forced to land heavily on the observatory roof, crushing the ancient stone. It roared again, turning to charge at Asteria, then stopped suddenly. A muffled thump echoed from inside its chest as the grey veins pulsing under its scales suddenly turned a brilliant, blinding gold. Convulsing, it tried to screech, but instead of sound, a cloud of golden steam burst from its mouth.

The corruption reacted violently to the alchemical agent Asteria had synthesized, and since she had spent the past weeks researching the silence and all its uses, Orion was confident she knew what she was doing. Really, she was probably the only person, aside from its creator, who understood exactly how it worked, which meant she could do some very nasty things to creatures affected by it. The beast stiffened, its muscles locking as the potion started to take effect on the corrupted blood.

It fought back, trying hard to resist, but the damage was already done, and it wasn't long before it toppled sideways, crashing off the roof and landing in the snow with a ground-shaking thud. It didn't move again. Asteria floated down, her robes settling around her quietly, looking as if she had been strolling through the Sanctum's gardens. Sometimes, Orion forgot just how big the difference between tier three and tier four was.

There was a reason why only a tiny number of those who advanced into tier three managed to keep growing, and the power that came with it was truly unfair.

"Well, that was that," she said, dusting off her robes. The patrol witches stared in slack-jawed silence, and even Orion let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"That," Dorian whispered, "was terrifying. So cool, but also terrifying." His words finally broke Luna and Selene's shock, and they chimed in with their congratulations, drawing a small smile from Asteria, who met his eyes with a satisfied look. Then she fell back into her official role and addressed the Magistra.

"Secure the carcass, but be sure not to touch the fluids. I want a hazard team here within the hour to decontaminate the area." While the witches began their work, she signaled for Orion to follow her and headed toward the observatory. He hesitated briefly, wondering whether he should insist that his friends come along, but decided there might be a reason she wasn't including them, so he simply nodded and hurried after her.

Entering the observatory was easy thanks to the wyvern's passage, as it had finished Asteria's job and completely torn down the doors, creating a spacious entrance. Orion paused for a moment, wondering how it had gotten inside, given that there was no sign the doors had been used before, and decided to look for other entrances before they left. He had a sneaky suspicion that something wasn't quite right about that situation, but it was secondary at best.

The interior was made of grey stone, with ancient star charts carved into the walls and ceiling. They were all useless now, considering how much time had passed, but as far as historical sites went, this was still quite well preserved, especially since the wyvern had roosted inside it for who knew how long.

"Why was this place abandoned?" he asked as they crossed the first chamber, following the trail of destruction caused by the monster's exit.

"A better observatory was built within the Sanctum," Asteria replied.

"Just because we hold tradition dear, doesn't mean we never improve, you know?" Orion concealed an incredulous look. He'd only rarely seen change happen in the coven, but he supposed it was possible that in ancient times, the witches might have been more willing to bend. The second room was similar, although it showed signs of once holding equipment, as indicated by the grooves in the floor.

It was a jarring sight to see the remains of monsters scattered around, but he guessed the wyvern had to eat something and probably didn't care about preserving history, even if it wasn't entirely animalistic. The third room was where the beast had made its nest and where they found the source of its corruption. Ice grew in large spikes across the floor and walls, covering the astral signs, and Orion had to strengthen his warming charms, lest the unnatural cold freeze him solid.

The nearly transparent ice was centered in the room, where the wyvern had once slept, by the looks of things. But it was what was behind it that caught Orion's attention. Like a metallic parasite, something was attached to the far wall, something that was unmistakably Iron State machinery. Thick cables snaked into the floor, going who knew where, and cooling pipes hissed, venting the familiar scent of the Silence. It resembled a crystalline heart of sorts, enclosed in a cage of brass and iron.

Runes ran across its surface in the strange language of the enemy. Occasionally, it hummed, and paying attention, Orion was able to tell it was emitting the same pulse that had drawn him here.

"Don't touch anything," Asteria ordered sharply. She walked around the device, her wand glowing as she scanned the mana flows.

"It's a transmitter," Orion said as he moved closer to the console, careful to avoid the jagged ice spikes surrounding him. There, at the bottom, he saw a display showing a stylized map of the mountain range. Hundreds of red dots blinked on it.