Chapter 11: Waiting
The moment Nostradamus stepped through the azure-blue spatial gate, he immediately felt his body transform into some indescribable, peculiar existence between soul and matter. Following the guidance of the spell runes, the old mage cleanly crossed the rift between worlds and arrived on the other side of the door.
A soul at the [Soul's Ultimate Essence] level allowed Nostradamus to see many things that others could not. In that fleeting glimpse while traversing the world rift, he saw that near his destination, there was indeed a sizable spatial narrow passage slowly expanding, with vast chaotic energy surging, seemingly trying to open another hole in the world's barrier.
*At this rate, it would take about another month before the spatial gate reopens. No rush.*
Nostradamus estimated in his mind, and at the same time, his body completely passed through the azure-blue door, his feet standing on white snow and ice.
The moment the teleportation ended, the old mage held his forehead, maintaining his balance while suppressing the dizzying vertigo in his mind. This white-haired elder couldn't help but sigh, "No matter how many times, I can never get used to it... It seems that as long as one is still human, one cannot endure the disorienting feeling brought by teleportation."
With that, he looked around, taking in the silver-white mountains and forests. Dark clouds churned, blocking the light of the twin moons. Nostradamus adjusted his glasses, surveying the nearby situation: "Speaking of which, it has indeed been a long time since I last came here. The last time I was in the Northern Lands seems to be over twenty years ago... So where is this?"
Due to unavoidable natural interference, the old mage's spatial gate had opened a bit crookedly. He did not arrive at his intended destination, the Black Forest Fortress of the Moldova Territory, but instead appeared in an unfamiliar place.
Looking up at the sky, determining the trajectory of the moon and clouds, then observing the distant mountain scenery, Nostradamus said thoughtfully, "It's too far off. I actually teleported to the north of the Great Aias Mountains... There are too many spatial narrow passages here. Even for me, fixed-point teleportation without coordinates is somewhat difficult."
"I'll just fly over."
After setting his next course of action and using magic to confirm the direction once more, Nostradamus nodded, then extended his left hand, which wore two cyan magic rings, and pressed it against the void.
Instantly, arcane power surged, elements churned. The bitterly cold northern wind was easily commanded by the flashing light of the two magic rings. Atmosphere and gravity were pushed aside by the power of the spell. Invisible force coalesced into a spinning, radiant magic array, condensing into a flying carpet beneath the old mage, lifting him high into the sky.
"Since I've teleported to the far north, there's no need to rush over directly... Rather than immediately going to seal the spatial gate, I'm more interested in that Joshua of the Radcliffe Family."
Wrapped in magic, rising to several thousand meters in the sky, Nostradamus had already passed through the clouds and once again saw the bright twin moons. Standing in the void, he murmured to himself, "Destroying a spatial gate single-handedly... truly incredible."
This was not the old mage making a fuss over nothing. One must understand that no matter what kind of spatial gate, its structure is complex, and its nodes are hidden deeply, far beyond what an ordinary person could casually observe. For a brand-new, unknown large-scale spatial gate, Nostradamus admitted that even he could not fully analyze it within a few hours, let alone accomplish such a feat in the midst of battle.
But facts speak louder than words. Whether the old mage believed it or not, there was indeed a warrior who, within the few minutes between battles, saw through all the arcane nodes embedded in an unknown spatial gate, and then, in less than five minutes, completely shattered them all. This was not a fantasy but a reality that had occurred not long ago.
"Every time I hear news like this, I feel like I'm really getting old..."
Sighing, Nostradamus commanded the icy wind and arcane power, sitting on the magically conjured flying carpet. Amidst the clouds, he began to cross the Great Aias Mountains at a leisurely pace.
Time passed slowly. It was now the 5th of January, Year 832 of the Falling Stars Era.
Nostradamus had arrived in the southern part of the Great Aias Mountains, within the territory of Moldavia.
Over these few days, the old mage had traversed several Black Forests and secret realms in the Northern Lands. The thick residual chaotic energy made him frown deeply. This loathsome pollution became more severe the closer he got to the southeast. Even after more than two weeks, the chaotic power, like gray mist, had not dissipated and still had considerable remnants.
"This quantity is truly extraordinary, and the transmission speed was far too fast. It's fortunate that the spatial gate was destroyed in time, or the entire Northern Lands would have fallen into chaos..."
Hovering above a small Black Forest in Moldavia, Nostradamus collected some more chaotic energy, shaking his head and sighing, "The Holy Mountain side can't spare a large number of people to purify this place for now. If spring comes and the snow and ice thaw, the chaotic energy will seep into the ground. Purifying it then will be very troublesome."
While pondering the subsequent handling of the chaotic power, the white-haired mage had already arrived at the snowfields surrounding the main city of Moldavia. From high in the sky, Nostradamus could vaguely see the massive black city walls in the distance.
But just as he was about to descend and visit the main city to meet the new Chaos Warden, the young warrior who had miraculously destroyed the spatial gate, Nostradamus suddenly frowned. He stopped paying attention to the main city and instead looked down at the snowfield beneath him.
In the arcane vision of the Ultimate-rank mage, two enormous whirlpools suddenly appeared on the originally pure white snowfield. Two streams of battle qi, astonishingly terrifying in their aura, were condensing on this land.
"What..."
Murmuring in confusion, Nostradamus halted all his actions. He concealed his form within the high-altitude clouds, then released a spell to detect the situation below.
On the snow-covered earth, in the center of the snowfield, a tall man in a black leather coat stood at the heart of a red whirlpool. Beside him was a silver-haired girl. The two seemed to be waiting for someone. Meanwhile, another figure, riding a stream of deep cyan battle qi, was rapidly rushing towards this direction.
The waiting warrior was tall and powerfully built, his muscles so solid that they seemed to strain the leather coat to its breaking point. From his exposed body, it was evident that every single tendon had been tempered to its limit. Life energy surged through his body like a mighty river, making each of his heartbeats heavy and shocking.
In terms of appearance alone, this warrior was not bad, even possessing a certain rugged handsomeness. But on his calm face lurked a terrifying aura that inspired fear, as if he might devour someone at any moment.
As for the running figure, he revealed not a single trace of his aura. Even with battle qi released externally and soul light radiating from his body, he seemed almost non-existent, impossible to lock onto with spiritual sense.
"Brandon..."
As an old friend of the current head of the Kaos Family, Nostradamus naturally recognized his son, this genius swordsman from a mage family. And Brandon's current performance did not tarnish his reputation. The white-haired mage determined that, judging by his aura alone, this handsome blonde swordsman had now fully mastered his own Soul's Glory, laying the foundation for his future advancement to [Soul's Ultimate Essence].
But even so, he was still subtly overshadowed by the tall warrior.
With the strength of an Ultimate-rank mage, Nostradamus could naturally see why.
The trait contained within their battle qi were similar yet fundamentally different wills. Beneath the blonde swordsman's deep cyan battle qi lay a sacred, holy light, sworn to eradicate all evil and impurity. Beneath the black-haired warrior's red battle qi, however, was a ferocious, maddening black fluctuation, existing solely for battle and slaughter.
If Brandon was the peerless Sword Saint wielding twin swords and battle qi, then the warrior standing in the center of the snowfield was the Steel War God bathed in blood and fire!
(To be continued.)