Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 111 - Valeria’s True Power

As they approached, they began to see it in the distance. There was a small, barely maintained harbor. It would do nicely to dock their ship at.

They docked next to a couple other small ships that had been present. Looking forward, the penguin mining operation was visible in the distance, but Lumi deliberately ignored it.

They weren’t particularly relevant, all things considered. The penguins there wouldn’t be a danger to them, and neither would they be particularly useful in actually getting Rena out. All Lumi had to do was get near where she was sealed, and test to see what they could do.

From what I know, our forces should likely be enough to get her out. Even if it isn’t, however, this isn’t a big deal. After all, I could just contact Grand Tactician Azir to receive stronger assistance.

They headed straight to the cave. They received a few confused glances, but seeing that they had no intentions of slowing down, moving with a purpose, no one stopped the Knights. When they finally entered the cave, they were met with an otherworldly sight. All sides had a wall of deep purple ice, the frozen wave of darkness expanding in all directions.

"It’s... actually beautiful." Susie spoke softly, taking in the sight with amazement. "Look at it... I can’t even describe it. I’ve seen plenty of physical or chemical corruption. Even a bit of magical corruption. I... don’t know what this is."

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked. "It’s just a bunch of concentrated corruption, isn’t it?"

"What I mean," Susie elaborated on her statement. "This is nothing, nothing like the corruption we’ve encountered outside. It’s not concentrated corruption, in fact, there’s barely any of the corruption from outside at all! I can only guess... this is the result of some extremely high level magic."

"Beautiful isn’t the word I’d use." Jin muttered, rubbing his arms. "That thing feels wrong."

"Indeed." Susie agreed, despite being the one who originally called it beautiful. "It feels like... terror. I’m scared just looking at it. I’m nearly sure it’s magical, but..." Susie began taking out some equipment, tuning it in to the ice in front of her.

"I know no magic like this." Marcus stated directly. "It feels like I’m in front of a terribly strong evil presence. Like any moment, I may die." He slowly turned his head to Lumi. "Leader, is this... okay?"

Lumi nodded. "Don’t focus too hard on sensing its influence. This is something way, way beyond us."

Susie stared at the results in front of her. "It’s magic indeed. But... how?"

"This way." Lumi said, leading them further inside. "There should be a cave system that goes deeper into the glacier."

As they moved inwards, they could see the purple ice forming rows and rows of giant chains piercing the ground or walls.

Despite nobody having specifically crafted it so, whenever there was a sufficient quantity of ice, it would take the form of a linked chain.

"Valeria, get ready." Lumi ordered. "I’ll need you to strike at the glacier later. Your strongest strikes."

"Mn." Valeria gave a small acknowledgement.

The tunnel wound downward, following what was a mix of erosion and mined out sections by the penguins. As they descended, the ice around them grew darker, more saturated with corruption.

After several minutes of delving deeper, the tunnel opened into a larger chamber. And there, forming the far wall, was what Lumi had been looking for. A massive section of ice so dark it was black, shot through with veins of purple energy that pulsed like a heartbeat.

"By the Empress." Marcus breathed. "Just trying to sense it gives me a headache. I need to take your advice and stop, Lumi. This must be the core."

"It’s beautiful," Susie repeated herself, checking her instruments. "And terrible! The magical density readings are... wait, that can’t be right." She tapped her device, frowning. "I’m detecting two distinct magical signatures. This energy that resembles the corruption, yes, but also something else. Something the dark energy is... containing?"

Lumi stepped forward, studying the wall of dark ice. Somewhere behind that barrier, Rena waited. One of the Six Heroes who had helped seal the Dark One, now a prisoner herself. The irony wasn’t lost on him.

"I want to test something," he said. "Valeria, could you strike the ice? I’m curious how it would respond to direct force from you. As strong as you can, please."

Valeria gave him a confused look but drew her sword. "Stand back, everyone. No telling how this might react."

She stood before the ice, studying it for a long while. She then took a step back, taking a deep breath.

She gently closed her eyes, and raised her left hand to her chest. She started muttering. "Keep listening to your inner voice. I must keep a will of steel."

She sat down, beginning to meditate. Slowly, the visions of the sun and moon appeared above her. They combined together in an equinox.

Yet, she stayed, her breath gently making her chest rise up and down. There was silence for a few minutes, then a small orb appeared around her, taking the color of dawn. After a couple more seconds, an orb with the color of dusk appeared.

Dusk and dawn combined to make an Equinox Orb.

This continued until she had three Equinox Orbs around her. She then stood up, and placed her right palm on the ice. "Grant me True Sight."

The ice was visibly marked with her influence, and finally she raised her sword. She took a stance, power gathering around her blade. She was impressive, the air itself bent around her as she focused her strength.

"Celestial Visions!"

Despite her slash being nearly instantaneous, it looked as if it moved in slow motion. A heavy vision appeared around her. A bright light in the heavens, golden gates, and righteous fury. The sun and moon submitted to the will of the Lord, and thus Valeria struck.