[Vol. 8] Chapter 179: The Sky That Cannot Be Reached
In an instant, a faint image of a six-winged figure dressed in glowing white light slowly appeared behind the blind girl. The shining light that burst out from her surrounded her small, slender body like a dress made of holy cloth, turning into a dazzling, radiant orb of divine light.
The [Staff of Eternal Radiance] was a sacred item created by merging the divine concept of “Heaven”, one of the six highest laws of the world. Like the other divine tools chosen for the heroes, it was still in its early form and not yet fully developed. In terms of raw power, it definitely couldn’t match a true Primordial Artifact. But only if those primordial items were used at their full strength.
Even the strongest power is useless if you can’t control it. For mortals, using a divine artifact comes at a very heavy price. Even if Elunie had a true Primordial Artifact in her hands, she probably couldn’t bring out more power than she was currently doing with the [Staff of Eternal Radiance].
In that sense, treating them as equal wasn’t too far off.
The light from the staff didn’t just wrap around Elunie. Like ripples in water, it quickly spread forward from where she stood. She intentionally guided the wave of holy light ahead, scanning the area carefully.
Even Violet had been surprised by Elunie’s outstanding sensitivity, and now, using the staff as her “eyes,” she could easily detect the strange power hiding in the environment. She had a clear purpose.
“Snap!”
The wave of holy light moved only about ten meters forward when it suddenly hit something invisible near the mountain valley entrance and triggered a sharp, crackling sound, like a surge of electricity in midair.
Touched by the holy power of the staff, a hidden protective force, previously only sensed through Mevis’s Death Sense, was finally revealed.
It was a barrier.
A giant, invisible shield that covered the entire valley, cutting it off completely from the outside world. Even though the barrier couldn’t be seen, it was clearly made of a powerful energy, not just magic, and reacted strongly to certain things.
Among those, the pure, sacred light from the [Staff of Eternal Radiance] was clearly something it rejected.
“Szzz... zap... crackle...!”
The two forces, light and barrier, clashed and sparked in the air. Even from a distance, the sheer intensity and sharpness of the defensive energy made everyone watching change their expression.
Everyone in the hero’s team was experienced and had seen a lot before, especially Kunnir, the tiger scholar. He recognized the nature of the power revealed by the staff almost immediately.
“Is… is this sword energy? Someone managed to lock invisible sword energy in a fixed area, turning it into a kind of trap that automatically attacks anyone who gets too close… and it covers an entire mountain valley? This is… unbelievable. How deep must their understanding of the sword be to create something like this? It’s like a miracle.”
Chloe let out a helpless sigh.
“We haven’t even entered the valley yet, and we’ve already hit a wall. Are all the strange stories about the Chaos Magic Valley because of this?”
“Uh… looking at this setup, I get the feeling that if we just rush in blindly, it won’t be something simple like a magic backlash. We’ll probably get sliced to pieces by the sword energy…”
The members of the Hero's party were whispering to each other. Although Violet heard their discussion, she didn’t join in or comment. She simply shook her head slightly, as if deep in thought.
It definitely wasn’t that simple.
The legends about the Chaos Magic Valley had been around for a long time, probably over a hundred years. But judging by the strength of the sword formation here, it seemed very new, probably only created within the last month at most.
This sword formation wasn’t built on any carvings or magic circles. It was clearly left behind by a powerful person who released their sword energy directly into the air. It felt less like part of a long-term plan and more like a temporary solution to a problem. No matter how strong it was, it would gradually fade over time, and it was very difficult to maintain.
So, this sword formation definitely wasn’t the true source of the valley’s old legends.
From the way Elunie’s staff reacted when clashing with the sword energy, its strength was at least equal to a 7th or 8th-tier spell. That level of power was already far beyond what ordinary advanced mages or warriors could deal with. Unless there was some special case, whoever left behind this sword energy was likely at pseudo-god level, or possibly even at the peak of demigod level.
And in the whole world, there were very few people who had that kind of power.
“Could it be Minchen? Doesn’t seem like it.” Violet wondered.
That guy could do something like this, but he used a tachi (Japanese long blade), not a sword. While they might look similar, the way they’re used is very different.
Besides, according to Edwina, Minchen had gone with Loknisa to the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, helping Tiyelu resettle tens of thousands of dolls who lost their homes when ‘Vast Dream’ disappeared due to changes in history. He was now active near the Allied Kingdoms, so there was no reason for him to suddenly show up here in the eastern part of the Holy Empire.
“But if it’s not Minchen, then… who else in this world is skilled enough in the sword to do this?”
Actually, the timing of when this sword formation was left behind was very close to what that Imperial officer named Skett had said earlier, about when they arrived here for their mission. Could this mean the sword formation was something the Empire’s Intelligence Bureau had set up in the Chaos Magic Valley?
“...No, that doesn’t feel right either.”
Even if they had someone strong enough to do this, the Austre Empire’s agents were always careful and calculating. They wouldn’t leave behind something this rough or sloppy. It looked more like someone had left it behind in a rush.
“Strange… And the one who created this sword energy doesn’t seem to be nearby right now. Probably busy with something else and can’t come.”
Violet wasn’t an expert in swordsmanship, but she had met famous sword users before, like Mr Dead Soul, or the [Blunt Edge] Kiri. So she knew enough to guess a few things. Usually, if a swordsman is strong enough to leave behind this kind of sword energy, they would be linked to it in some way.
And if Elunie was directly clashing with the sword energy like she just did, the person who created it would definitely notice and react. Unless they were deliberately hiding or simply unable to respond.
And since this mysterious swordsman didn't show up, didn’t react, and didn’t stop Elunie, it probably meant they really couldn’t come.
Either way…
“This place is hiding a lot more secrets than we thought.”
As the priestess kept thinking to herself, Elunie, the Hero, was also making some progress in her attempt to interact with the sword formation using the [Staff of Eternal Radiance].
It’s important to note, even though Elunie was a hero, her role in the team was actually closer to that of a supporter, like a priest or healer. Right now, both her personal power and the evolution level of her divine staff were still limited. So her actual combat strength was still quite low.
That was the main reason why she didn’t fight very often.