After hesitating for a few seconds, Nula checked the status of the buffs on herself
and reapplied a few spells whose durations were almost depleted before she began channeling mana into the matrix.
Regardless of what lay behind this matrix, she had to take a look.
She didn’t believe the clown mask’s true dwelling was here; the absence of any material related to the Eternal Fla cult made it unlikely that this was the residence of a key stronghold leader.
The matrix activated smoothly under the stimulus of mana, the entire process bolstering Nula’s confidence significantly.
Clearly, if the matrix hadn’t been used for a long ti, it wouldn’t have activated this smoothly.
The maintenance level of a matrix directly affects its responsiveness and activation speed, a piece of knowledge every magus should rember.
With a flicker of white light, Nula reached out to grasp the immobilized clown mask, and in an instant, both figures vanished from the small compartnt.
...
After a brief mont of dizziness, Nula felt the solid ground beneath her feet, as the blinding white light in front of her gradually dissipated.
The room was silent except for the classic ticking of a seat clock going "tick-tock, tick-tock."
Surveying her surroundings, Nula found herself in a lavishly decorated room, spanning over a hundred square ters, resembling a study.
A heavy carved wooden door was firmly shut, and the floor was covered with a delicate fur carpet.
Behind a two-ter-long desk, a high-backed chair bore a white robe that looked strikingly familiar to Nula.
That was the uniform of the administrative staff of the adventurer’s guild!
Was this the adventurer’s guild?
The leader of a key stronghold of the Eternal Fla was hiding inside the adventurer’s guild!
Nula’s gaze continued to wander, scanning the room before settling back on the clown mask.
If she weren’t worried about eting her own doom upon releasing him, she would have been curious to see what face lay beneath that ostentatious clown mask.
But regardless of his identity, this was a huge scandal for the adventurer’s guild!
The guild, which prided itself on working towards the peace of the continent, was harboring a key figure of a cult.
Nula could already imagine what the headlines would be once this was exposed.
Shaking her head, Nula began to search the room.
Since the clown mask dared to hide the teleportation matrix to the Eternal Fla’s underground stronghold within the adventurer’s guild, other information about the Eternal Fla was likely also present here.
Such important and sensitive materials couldn’t possibly be carried by the clown mask at all tis; if caught, he would have no chance of disentangling himself.
Yet, it was also improbable that he would keep them too far away.
How could he feel secure if it wasn’t under his imdiate watch?
Thinking it over, this office, whose exact floor in the Rodel branch guild Nula didn’t know, seed the most fitting place!
Hiding sothing in such a semi-private space was all too easy.
Given the clown mask’s status that afforded him such an office here, it was likely no one would dare to rummage through his things, emboldening him to boldly set up the teleportation matrix to the underground stronghold here as well.
Sure enough, Nula quickly found sothing intriguing on the bookshelf.
A thick bundle of parchnt, appearing to be a roll of blueprints, was hidden inside a hollowed-out Spirit Church scripture.
Had Nula not keenly noticed the anomaly with that particular scripture, it might have easily been overlooked.
Even if you’re not a follower of the Spirit Church, you shouldn’t be placing their scripture amidst entertainnt novels, right?
All the books on the shelf were accurately categorized, making this scripture stand out oddly.
Driven by curiosity, Nula picked it up and flipped through it, discovering the hidden blueprints.
Was the clown mask not afraid of soone discovering his hiding spot?
Did he not have any friends here, or had he deliberately camouflaged it?
Nula wasn’t familiar with the specific details of the Rodel branch guild, so even though she knew the clown mask was a high-ranking official there, she couldn’t pinpoint his exact identity.
Returning to the desk, Nula carefully unrolled the parchnt.
It appeared to be a design of so sort, yet it was entirely different from any blueprints Nula had seen before.
In her experience, blueprints always featured various scales and annotations, detailing the processing thods and purposes of each component, and even the basic design philosophy would be noted.
However, this design was not like that.
On the parchnt, Nula saw simple images, a few vague impression drawings and sketches, along with so scales and several disparate components, most of which resembled sothing akin to signage.
What stood out were complex equations, incredibly intricate ones!
Almost all the equations were directly or indirectly related to the manipulation of mana, foundational tools for analyzing magic spells, sothing every magus should master.
However, Nula had never seen so many equations on a seemingly straightforward design plan.
The impression drawings on the design didn’t seem to depict a spell matrix or any magical device.
Moreover, even with Nula’s solid foundation, she could comprehend less than a third of the equations on the paper.
She couldn’t figure out what these equations combined to form; so didn’t even seem to belong to a single category.
Nula attempted to deduce from one corner of the paper but couldn’t proceed after covering less than a quarter of it.
The complex equations led to a logical dead end after deduction!
"What exactly is this?"
Nula ruffled her hair, deciding to skip the first two sheets and directly examine the later parts detailing the component processing, specifically the instructions for processing the rune-engraved signage.
Here, at last, Nula found what a standard design plan should contain.
From the processing techniques to the equipnt used for manufacturing, including the design rationale and specific applications, everything was clearly outlined on the paper.
But then...
"Gods?"
After unraveling the logic and thought process behind the design, Nula discovered that the chaotic designs surprisingly led to an inconceivable goal.
The Eternal Fla cult was attempting to materialize their deity!
These madn had sohow obtained basic theories on the nature of mana and had managed to clarify their ideas, organizing them into this design plan.
A blueprint for the creation of gods.
Nula felt as though she was witnessing the delirious ravings of lunatics; not even in her most absurd dreams had such a scenario appeared.
Mana is indeed a fundantal component of the world, but that does not an humans can shape gods through it.
This is a taboo! Not because of a fear of gods, but because this very act leads to destruction.
A transcendent and uncontrollable being is more likely to bring disaster, not just power.
"Madn! A bunch of madn!"
Nula narrowed her eyes, re-reading the design plan, thoroughly understanding the Eternal Fla cult’s line of thought.
They planned to use mana, the essence of the world, not through a human body or any life form, but by directly condensing mana.
Then, through a complex rune matrix, they aid to create an artificial soul, injecting it into a body entirely composed of mana.
Regardless of the likelihood of success, this plan could potentially devastate Rodel, whether it succeeded or not.
Nula noted that in the proportional weight between the mana body and the artificial soul, the Eternal Fla cult had opted to inject far more mana than the formulas would balance to ensure the body’s stability.
Whatever was ultimately created, that excess mana wouldn’t just vanish; influenced by the world, it would decay, releasing staggering amounts of energy.
This energy could even surpass that of a top-tier level 1 magus, reaching the capabilities of a special-level magus, and easily obliterate the entirety of Rodel.
The madn of the Eternal Fla cult were obviously prepared to make sacrifices, but all the people of Rodel would pay for their irrational and insane ideas.
The rune signage currently being rushed into production in the underground stronghold serves as containers for storing condensed primal mana.
From the design plans, Nula understood that the artificial soul had actually been completed a while ago.
Once there were enough containers, they would proceed to the final step of their plan, rging the mana body with the artificial soul.
This was the "ceremony" the clown mask ntioned.
A ceremony to welco the arrival of a new god!
"What to do!" Staring at the plans on the desk, Nula was at a loss for the first ti.
There seed to be no way to resolve the situation now; the rune signage would begin to actively absorb mana once created.
A single rune signage might not hold much, but the effect of their numbers could lead to a qualitative change.
Even the current number of accumulated rune signage was enough to destroy Rodel.
Destroying the rune signage would still release the mana.
And the spellbeasts and wild beasts outside the city were drawn by the mana contained within the rune signage.
Whether beast or spellbeast, primal mana is incredibly valuable to them; obtaining it might elevate their species, transforming re beasts into spellbeast subspecies or even full spellbeasts.
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