CHAPTER 83: MOVING THE BATTLEFIELD

Merlin warped the darkness around her like a blanket, creating gusts of wind within the vast spirit world that delved into the void of her form. She then poured the rest of the cosmic force into the 'blanket', creating a large, abyssal sheet that covered the entirety of the [Battle-Cage].

Arcus cast his gaze onto the now darkened skies; the once ethereal spirit world had now descended into an eternal night. Stars, infinitesimally small, twinkled from within the void. His maw opened slightly, then closed. Suj'lokin, on the other hand couldn't help but voice his opinions.

"So this is what Madam Merlin is capable of with the powers of chaos..."

Merlin smiled at his remark. "This is just the beginning. Watch."

As soon as those words left her mouth, the spirit world began to quiver. The tremors continued, and the spirits were not liking it one bit. It was as if a portion of their souls were being ripped apart from within them. No, it was more akin to a segment being forgotten, leaving a gap within their ethyric memories.

The lightning dancing within Suj'lokin's book form shimmered. "Madam Merlin... What are you doing..."

She gave him a fleeting glance before resuming her spell. "I have isolated this space from the rest of the spirit world. You can think of it as me invading this realm by invoking the Tangential Void. Of course, the Spirit World won't take a liking to this, I am certain there will be hundreds of thousands of spirits rushing to this area to get rid of me, but it's the only way to do what I promised that young man."

The crimson snake wrapped around her neck hissed. "Must you do this?...."

Merlin smiled. "Of course. Do not worry, I will return this portion of rift space back after I finish what I needed it for." She giggled, "Besides, I am pretty sure the penalty for this will be sent of into poor Andre's soul instead of mine~"

Suj'lokin sighed. "What will you be gaining from this, anyway?"

"Simple. Although this space is isolated, it is still within the realms of not just the spirit world, but our real world. That is why [Battle-Cage] is so special; it allows the Celestial in question to form a space that is not so much within the spirit world, but not so much within the real world."

Arcus nodded. "Indeed, that is what Liminal Space is, of course. But how does that help you in any way?"

Merlin's lips curved up into a smile. "Since this space is not completely within one realm, it is technically connected to both at the same time. I have a spell that is still running on its own in the real world that isolates the battlefield there. If I combine it with this isolation spell..."

Arcus' eyes widened. "You... Are you seriously going to isolate both Rift Space and Real Space at the same time?! Are you trying to achieve pseudo, long distance teleportation?!"

Merlin snapped her fingers, "Bingo! Once the battlefield is isolated from both, the rest of the planet will rotate without the battlefield itself moving anywhere. It will be as if a Stellar Chariot had passed through a ghost!"

...

All eyes were glued to the abyssal, star filled skies. Mason clenched his wounds while smiling. "It seems it is our win, Nicholas."

The crimson cloaked man grit his teeth. "What the hell are you talking about..."

Mason looked at him with contempt in his eyes. "Surely you can feel this influx of cosmic force... You don't need to delude yourself."

"Shut up!" The roar was matched with an outburst of cosmic force that turned a few of the officers unconscious. Seeing this, Mason simply smiled in return. He didn't even flinch at his response and simply pulled out his usual cigar and lit it.

Nicholas clenched his teeth tightly. Halos of light formed around his staff, dispersing into numerous shooting stars that were swiftly sent off in Mason's direction.

Hermes struggled to keep his mind awake as his eyes caught a glimpse of the impending attack. He watched in horror as Mason stood defenselessly with his eyes closed, as if awaiting his final moments. Just as he was about to call out his name, time stopped.

Hermes blinked twice. He witnessed the same luminous, shooting stars levitating in the air as if a movie scene was put on pause. The same could be said about Nicholas. While his eyes were darting around in confusion, his body remained rigid like a log. Hermes squinted. He noticed tiny strands of darkness extending out into the heavens, attaching themselves to Nicholas and his radiant light particles.

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As the scene further unraveled, Hermes cautiously engaged his [Sensory-Boost], bringing the elusive details into sharper focus. The shadowy tendrils were composed of dark elemental ethyria, but what bothered him most was the cosmic force feeding into them. Observing it was akin to gazing upon a malfunctioning display; as if there were glitches within the graphics of the system. This anomaly of cosmic force was manifested as a chaotic array of black and white static noise, stretching back to the mysterious origin of these dark strands.

Abruptly, the hush of distant footsteps cut through the stillness, originating from the depths of the void. Hermes craned his neck slowly, directing his attention towards the sound. From the depths of the abyssal heavens, a vast rupture cleaved through the fabric of space. Emerging from this chasm, enshrouded in shadow, was the figure of Merlin. She traversed the air with a grace that belied the darkness enveloping her. Each step was a testament to an unseen elegance.

She glided closer to the rooftop where Mason and his allies were engaged in combat with Nicholas and his squadron, all of whom had now been rendered motionless as if captured in time. Merlin's lips curled into a subtle smile as she alighted upon the rooftop, approaching Hermes with unhurried steps.

"What is it? Your eyes are practically glued to my body."

Hermes blinked. "I-uh... Um, you look different..."

She giggled, "Are you pleasantly surprised?" She turned to face her 'Captain': "I can't believe you lost to him, of all people." She shot a fleeting glance at Nicholas, who was glaring at her with all his might.

Mason chuckled, "I am getting old... If only those bastards would allow me to retire already..."

"Where the fuck is Andre, witch?!" Nicholas interrupted their conversation.

She glanced over at him and frowned; her eyes cringed the moment she took ahold of his form. "Ugh, Nicholas... You are just as I remember you."

"Witch! Answer my question!"

She covered her mouth while trying her best not to look at him. "Andre is still alive. Don't worry. Though, I doubt that the Spirit World will want anything to do with him for a while... Or maybe even forever?"

His eyes narrowed. "What the hell did you do to him?!"

"Oh, you know... The usual stuff. I took over his [Battle-Cage] and fused it with my spell."

"You-"

"Shhh...." Tendrils of darkness emerged from beneath her dress and covered his mouth. "I don't want to listen to your voice any longer, okay? I was already close to losing my sanity once today."

She glanced over at Hermes, who was still unsure on how to react to the sudden twist of events. "Hermes, the plan you came up with, I was able to succeed at it. Soon, this battlefield will be in a completely different location. As you wanted, we will all be dropping off within the premises of the Imperial Court."

He blinked twice before possessing what she had said. "The battlefield will be moving?"

"Indeed," she nodded. "Think of it this way: the space around this battlefield will be moving, not us. But technically, once I revoke the spell, everything encroached upon by my darkness will have their coordinates changed the moment the concealment ends."

Hermes didn't fully understand the mechanics behind this, but he nodded anyway. Now that I think about it, If I heard something like this back then, I would be spinning with joy, trying to decipher how it would work and hope my paper would be published at a prestigious academic publisher... He chucked to himself.

He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and swiftly walked over to Mason to hold him from falling over. Mason smiled, "Easy now kid, I am not dead yet."

Hermes shook his head. "You soon will be with all that damn smoking you do."

"Pehahaha! In terms of health benefits, these cigars outweigh nanobots!"

"Keep believing that," Hermes smirked. He glanced over at Lance, who was still unconscious. "Mason... Do you believe what happened to Mason's family is true?.."

Mason frowned. "Most likely, yes. I heard about it directly from Brandon, after all."

"I see..."

He held onto Mason and moved him to where Merlin was standing. She was staring at the abyssal skies with a blank expression. Hermes noticed this; his brows furrowed. "Merlin?"

She shifted her gaze to him. "Hermes, Mason. After the spell resolves, I will not be able to help you out for a bit."

Mason stroked his beard while taking a puff from his cigar. "I see. Is it because of your ascension?"

She nodded. "Yes, I need to take a bit of time to visit the Tangential Void. My Domain Singularity is quivering. If I don't allow my Chaos-force to synchronize with the ethyric realm, a lot of problems will pop up... Also, I can slowly feel it. My sanity is being lost..."

Hermes held onto his fedora. "Merlin, is this new form of yours something that's above the realm of Celestials?"

"Yes. Once one perfects their dimensionality, they have the chance to invoke an Ascension Stone to pierce through the celestial veil. This means that your soul core will be upgraded into a domain singularity, a conceptual place that doesn't exist but exists at the same time. You can think of it as a bridge between the user and their ethyric realm. Through this, I am able to wield ethyria without even needing to contract a spirit."

She continued, "But there is a cost to this power. The connection between the Dimensional Eldritch and the Ethyric Realm is very strong. Because ethyric realms are bound by concepts and ideals, incompatibility could occur. A person who refuses to assimilate with the realm's concepts of reality will tend to be rejected. It's similar to how a virus is viewed as an invader by one's body. And simply accepting it is not enough either. The soul itself needs to agree with these concepts completely."

Hermes scratched his neck. "So wouldn't that mean you will lose yourself in the process?..."

She smiled. "Indeed. However, there are methods of retaining control. After all, the ethyric realm only requires its visitors to agree with its concepts of reality. All I must do is embrace chaos and allow it to flourish within me. But this means that I must enter the Tangential Void and go on a meditation journey for a little while. It is there, in the embrace of nothingness, that I will commune with my very soul and persuade it of the unyielding truth that this, indeed, is the reality of our universe."

Hermes nodded, then turned to face Nicholas, who was bound together by tendrils of darkness that restricted his every movement. He pointed at him and asked, "Say, why did you hate that guy so much?"

She glanced over at him and frowned. "During my academy days, that bastard lied and boasted about me being his girlfriend to every Celestial Cadet in my year!"

End of Chapter