Roadmap to the Boundless Sky

Smoke and fire rose into the air around the Linacrox Union’s campsite, but there were still clouds of insects pouring in. Loud explosions tore through the area. The explosives they had buried underground had triggered.

The person-in-charge of the ritual felt his ears ring, and he stumbled. It took him a moment to recover, and he ran into a tent, where his legs gave out, and he fell prostrate in front of an idol statue covered in cloth. After spending a moment gasping for air, he climbed to his feet, carefully lifted the idol statue, and walked out.

He was small, and the idol statue looked heavy, but he refused anyone’s help. He huffed and puffed on the way and took occasional breaks. The trip to the ritual array took more than ten minutes. Then, he personally put the idol statue at the center of the array and made some minor adjustments. In the end, he grabbed a can and set it in front of him.

Once he was done, he looked around him. The ritual array was a cage made of metal wires and plates. The idol statue was right in the middle of it. The cage was crude and simple, but every wire and plate was positioned in a specific location, and when the wind blew, they clattered.

Zephero stopped telling him to hurry up, not that he had the time to do it. More insects had rushed in. They were just the forefront of the insect flood, yet the camp was already having a tough time dealing with them. As more insects came in, the situation would only get worse.

Zephero could tell that things were going terribly, so he grabbed the explosives he had planned to use later, then sent two Giant Warriors out of the campsite with flamethrowers. They jumped over the trenches to burn the insects around them and stop their advance for a while.

The other soldiers immediately poured fuel into the insect-filled trenches and lit them up. At the same time, Zephero ordered the people inside the camp to get rid of the insects that had invaded the campsite. With all this done, they could catch a minute’s break in this tense situation.

The person-in-charge ignored all that was happening around him and went to Serafina, the girl with the pigtails. He whispered to her, and she went up to the idol statue and knelt down.

Then, according to the ritual, the person-in-charge began lighting the braziers on the wooden pillars set around the ritual array. The laborers wanted to leave, but the person-in-charge ordered them to stay despite their unease.

Once all the braziers were lit up, the originally bright sky turned dark. All the gunshots, roars, and crackling fire seemed to have disappeared, and the laborers panicked.

The person-in-charge took a few steps back and stared at the idol statue at the center of the array. The ritual had begun, and he wouldn’t be able to control what happened next. All he could do now was wait.

But he still felt uneasy. The ritual had adopted a bit of the native Oceanlanders’ liturgical rite. Even though they had tried it a few times in the Linacrox Union and it had worked, that was when they had everything ready. This time, they were carrying out the ritual in haste in the wilderness. He really didn’t know what was going to happen.

Zephero took a moment to look around. When he saw that the fire braziers were lit, he knew that the ritual had finally begun. If it worked, they wouldn’t have come here in vain.

The Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation, including himself, knew that they wouldn’t be able to get the artifact. Even if they managed to get hold of it, they wouldn’t be able to bring it back.

They needed a decisive power that could snatch the artifact and bring it back.

The ritual was the key.

In the multiple times that the two worlds had come into contact, they had met many existences from the other world. Aside from hostile ones, some of them formed long-standing ties with them. Some even became their partners.

One such existence was incredibly unique. It could transfer its power to a target for a set period of time. Most of its power would be given to the target, while a small amount of it would leak out. The absorbed power, of course, benefitted the target a lot.

That wasn’t all. Some objects containing strange powers could be temporarily sent to the existence for safe keeping. They could retrieve them when the time was right, but there was a price to pay for it. The only issue was that they didn’t always get back the item even if they paid the price. Aside from this, there was also the fact that the ritual had a high chance of failure.

Even so, they chose to do it. If they succeeded, the rewards would be unrivaled.

A dying martial arts master from the Linacrox Union had stored his mental energy inside the existence. If the ritual worked and they could communicate with the existence, they could transfer part of the mental energy into one of their mediums.

While the existence would claim most of the mental energy, even a little bit of a martial arts master’s power would be enough to take down all those below the Fourth Limit. This was all they needed to steal the artifact.

Serafina spread her arms, and light spilled out of her eyes. The metal wires around the idol statue lit up, and the metal plates swayed violently. The clangs became clearer and faster.

For the transference of the mental energy, they needed an anchor, which had to have come into contact with the existence before. The anchor had to also be able to withstand its mental energy and guide it. Without such a person, even if they performed the ritual, they wouldn’t be able to receive anything.

Serafina was the medium and the anchor.

As the ritual continued, more insects poured in. The Giant Warriors at the outermost layer were the first to falter. The insects climbed on them, and soon, they were covered from head to toe.

Their bodies became heavier from the added weight of the insects, and they fell to their knees. A moment later, the flamethrowers on their backs exploded, turning the area where they stood into a ball of flames.

Most of the Giant Warriors suffered this fate.

Zephero’s expression soured even further. In just a short while, more than ten Giant Warriors collapsed. They had brought around thirty of them, and by the looks of it, they could only last for another ten minutes or so, but Zephero couldn’t do anything else at this point. The ritual was their only chance of success.

Another few minutes passed, and the idol statue started to transform. It was made of wood, but now, it looked like it had gained flesh and blood. A grotesque smile formed under the cloth covering it, and all those who saw it felt their skin crawl.

Soon, they heard a strange thud from within the idol statue, and everyone’s eyes flew wide open. It then opened its mouth wide, as if to vomit. Sparkling olive-colored liquid spilled out. In no time at all, it filled up the can below it. Some of it even spilled out on the ground.

A foul-smelling odor spread through the area the moment the idol statue opened its mouth, and a bizarre rustling followed it. The sounds were coming from within everyone’s bodies, as if something was crawling in them, and it brought them great discomfort.

However, once the fluorescent liquid finished pouring out, the area went silent. They were stunned for a moment before realizing that the insects had stopped trying to enter the campsite.

Zephero perked up and strode over to take a look. The campsite was like a coral reef surrounded by the sea. When he saw the insects bypassing it, he sighed in relief. Then, he went up to the person-in-charge and asked, “Did it work?”

“I don’t know. We need someone to drink the Divine Water. Then, we’ll know,” the person-in-charge said with a shake of his head.

Zephero swung his arm, and a soldier dragged over a shackled prisoner. He was an imperial army scout they had captured on their way here with quite some effort. The prisoner was a proper martial artist, so he was the perfect test subject.

The soldier yanked his head back and pried open his mouth.

The person-in-charge grabbed a spoon, scooped up the liquid, and poured it into the scout’s mouth. After a while, the scout started spasming while moaning. His body started burning up, and the soldier let him go.

Suddenly, the scout cradled his neck and collapsed, then started rolling about. Steam rose from his body, and it looked like he was melting. After moaning and groaning for a few minutes, he ended up as a formless puddle of gel.

Zephero frowned at that. “So?”

The person-in-charge sighed and chuckled wryly. “We failed. We needed more time to prepare the ritual.”

Zephero cursed under his breath. They couldn’t cast the ritual again. The existence was bound to take all the mental energy now.

Either way, the insects wouldn’t come into the campsite anymore. This was part of the reason behind why he insisted on the ritual being cast right then. Even if it failed, they could make use of the existence’s power to intimidate the insects and protect the campsite.

He looked around and exhaled. “We’ll have to settle with this for now.”

They could only wait for the insect flood to pass before trying to find Ingram.

Zephero turned around and walked away.

After he left, Serafina smiled grotesquely while kneeling. Her smile was almost identical to that of the statue.

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