# 255
Chapter 255 – Seal
Moo—
A deep sea-demon’s roar mingled with thunder rolled between heaven and earth.
Lightning clouds churned; beneath the dim sky three colossal black magic arrays overlapped, rotating out of alignment, a terrifying, uncanny aura spreading fast.
Beneath the triple array Lin Qiye hung in mid-air, dense magical elements swirling around him, his gaze calmly fixed on the titanic monster Kraken.
“Abyssal magic—Triple Rashōmon.”
In the next instant the three black arrays above him flashed away, re-appearing around Kraken to form a black triangular cage, trapping it inside.
Black lightning leapt between the arrays; power from the abyss severed Kraken from the outside world. A gigantic tentacle slammed against the barrier, was instantly scorched by the black thunder, and snapped back.
Kraken’s lantern-like green eyes slowly rotated, as if wondering what had blocked its path.
Moments later two tentacles curled into balls, jet-black cold light gathering, and smashed against the array.
Boom—!!
A dull impact quaked the earth; one array’s glow dimmed slightly, while the tentacle suffered only surface grazes.
Lin Qiye’s face changed.
Bearing Merlin’s soul, he was still only in the “Boundless” realm; against a “Klein” colossus on the verge of godhood the gap was too vast.
At this rate a few more blows would shatter the Triple Rashōmon.
He drew a long breath and slowly raised his left hand; silver light bloomed from his fingertip as a low chant echoed.
“Spatial magic—Dimensional Exile.”
The silver radiance flared. The space inside the Rashōmon around Kraken was suddenly sliced apart, as though an invisible knife had cut out the patch of reality he occupied.
Since quality was lacking, quantity would have to suffice!
Kraken’s body, along with the three gates, was instantly isolated; dense spatial ripples spread, preparing to hurl it into some unknown dimension.
Kraken sensed it. A deep roar rumbled forth; the cold light wreathing its body—darkness brewed in the deep sea—disrupted the teleportation. Though the space was severed, it was not exiled.
Magical elements around Lin Qiye surged again; extreme cold spread outward with him at its center.
He reached toward the distant Kraken and clenched.
“Super-tier ice magic—Eternal Freeze!”
A blinding white flash—and every li within Kraken was frozen solid, forming an immense pyramid of ice towering over the land, its chill lowering the city’s temperature.
The sea-demon’s shadow was fixed inside, like a giant specimen beneath a glacier.
Three pinnacle sealing spells stacked together had barely managed to seal the “Klein” mythic beast.
Not far away.
Xia Simeng stared at the frozen pyramid, mouth agape. “Wh-what is that?”
Kong Shang gazed at the hovering figure, puzzled.
“Captain, do you feel it?”
Xia Simeng nodded. “A god’s aura—one we’ve never recorded.”
“How can a human give off a god’s aura?” Kong Shang blurted.
She studied the deep-blue silhouette. “Say… could that be Lin Qiye?”
“Lin Qiye?” Kong Shang started. “Isn’t he the proxy of the Seraph and the Goddess of Night? How is another deity involved?”
“No idea, but my gut says… it’s him.” Xia Simeng’s eyes lit up. “A genius! We have to trick—uh, persuade him to join Team Phoenix!”
Kong Shang rolled his eyes. “First, Captain, we need to deal with this hell-hound; otherwise you’ll be wishing you could bury him in our graveyard.”
She sighed, eyeing the frozen colossus. “But… is that sea-demon really subdued so easily?”
……
“Hm?”
Loki, confronting Lu Wuwei, sensed something and turned.
“Someone’s stopped Kraken? You still have cards?” he asked in surprise.
Lu Wuwei answered flatly, “You underestimate us.”
Loki’s eyes shimmered, seeing through all obstacles to the sealed beast and the youth maintaining the array.
He froze, confusion flickering.
“That’s…”
Suddenly realization dawned, and strange delight lit his gaze.
“So that’s it, that’s it!! Hahahaha… He’s the one? Ten years ago Gaia wrote that name on the Shiva’s Grudge—yet now…”
Loki burst into laughter, staring at Lin Qiye as though at a fascinating toy.
He looked skyward, gaze piercing the heavy clouds toward the moon hanging above mortals.
“He intervened indeed… but ten years have passed. If I’m right, this miracle is at its limit.” He turned to Lu Wuwei, grinning. “Tell me—might I today witness the moment this miracle shatters?”
“Loki,” Lu Wuwei said slowly, “I won’t let you near him.”
“Heh-he-he-he…” Loki sneered. “You think keeping me here stops me?
You truly… underestimate the God of Trickery.”
……
“Awaken…”
“You can never escape me.”
“You are my chosen, bearer of power to overturn all.”
“You have slumbered long enough.”
“Return… my proxy.”
“Successor of guile and deceit…”
“Si Xiaonan.”
Rumble…
Thunder rolled across the heavens; fierce winds swept the earth. On the agency rooftop everyone stared at the distant frozen beast.
No one noticed Si Xiaonan at the rear crouch in pain, breathing raggedly.