Sham's mind went back in time.

"Sham," the silver-haired middle-aged mage said in a gentle voice, "you're doing a great job. Henceforth...... We will continue to rely on your strength. Go for it now. ”

Sham nodded gratefully. His teacher, John Goth, was the person he admired the most, and in Sham's mind, his teacher's talent surpassed even that of Elrios and Palamedes, the patriarch who built the Black Floating City.

"The teacher's wish will come true." As he left the "Deep Dark Dome" where the teacher was, Sham thought to himself.

Back at his own mage tower, Sham immediately got to work. His workshop was very austere, with only two paintings on the walls, portraits of the former lord Palamedes and the current Goth.

The portrait of Palamedes depicts him in middle age; Goth's portrait depicts him in his youth. In the painting, Goth, who is only a teenager, has silver hair and black robes, his golden eyes seem to be burning, and he has an empty smile on his face.

When Sham first met his teacher, he dyed his hair a plain tan. However, after inheriting the position of Lord of the Black Floating City, Goth took the opportunity to restore his hair to the silver color of the year.

"Humility is a virtue," Gort said, "but if we and the casters do not have the 'pride' commensurate with our strength, we cannot bear the burden of saving the world." ”

----------

"What was I thinking!"

Sham awoke abruptly from his "memories".

When did you get affected by the teacher's confusion control spell?

No, his mind was already under his control from the time he began to read his own memories.

No matter how beware, I am too far from the teacher in the way of the soul......!

Fortunately, my "true self liberation" has not disappeared. Although the illusory world affected him somewhat, the current teacher didn't even have the advanced spiritual power of the blue ocean after all. He may be able to evoke a memory, but not so much that he will sink to the point of "forgetting himself".

"That's enough, teacher......!" He said hoarsely, "I'm shocked that you're only twenty years old and so powerful, but ......"

Goth clutches his "Manfred Staff". The gray body of the cane is inlaid with black and white crystals on both sides.

Unlike the staff that the teacher collected from all over the cloudy world, the "Staff of Manfred" was a staff made by Palamedes himself for Goth. It has some of the properties of the other six staffs, but is best used to cast confusion spells.

"Did it only delay for six seconds......" Goth was obviously not very happy with the effect of his spell, "but it was enough. ”

"What?"

"Look all around you, Sham," Goth said leisurely, "I immersed you in 'six seconds' with a cast time of one second. ”

“……！”

Six seconds - enough for a warrior to decide life and death.

For a mage, it's also enough to cast a complete spell.

In this arcane confrontation at the highest level, a lag of six seconds is deadly.

"What is this......?"

At this point, Sham himself was a pure mist. He has a very clear perception of what is "inside" of him, but he is very slow about everything outside of him.

After recovering his senses, Sham realized—

Around the majestic "body of the sea of clouds" with a diameter of several thousand meters, a larger "cloud tide" from the real sea of clouds is erupting.

Endless clouds and mist frantically poured up to the surface from below the continent, tightly enveloping the small sea of clouds formed by the "Liberation of the True Self".

No, not an ordinary "cloud tide" -

The tide of clouds that usually rages in the cloud world is all too familiar to Sham.

He has lived on the shore of the sea of clouds for as long as he can remember. It was a place where clouds and tides were frequent, and even Sham's father was buried under a cliff because he ventured out in the clouds.

No one knows better than Sham what a sinister creature the "sea of clouds" has been praised by poets and spellcasters. Until he became a student of Goth, Sham was still afraid of the "sea of clouds".

"If you want to overcome your fears, turn them into what you fear."

In Sham's mind, the most powerful and vicious creature is always the sea of clouds itself. After escaping to this era, he finally practiced this "true self liberation".

Sham thought he would never be afraid of the sea of clouds again. But now, the fear buried deep within him is reviving.

The "cloud tide" that was surrounding him - the arcane energy contained in it was not lower than his own at all. Even Sham smelled the magic and the mysteries in it.

No matter how you say it, the "cloud tide" is just the edge of the sea of clouds, and the main composition is just ordinary clouds and mist. But now......

"This is the real sea of clouds ontology......!" Sham suddenly understood.

The "sea of clouds" that is slowly descending the continent is certainly much slower in its "thinking".

However, it has also become easier for its "body" to reach the mainland.

"The Confusion Control System was originally a very flawed school of magic," Goth's voice was distant, "but in the Age of the Sea of Clouds, it was the most powerful school. As the source of arcane power, the sea of clouds is not a magic net, not a magical god with ancient wisdom, it can only simply carry out orders, and its ability to think truly is not much stronger than that of cats and dogs. ”

Even if you leave the sea of clouds alone, it will sometimes make mistakes. For example, the sea of clouds bears the responsibility of bestowing divine magic on believers, but from time to time there are instances of non-believers becoming divine spell casters.

"Do you exert confusion control on the sea of clouds as a living being...... itself!" At this time, Sham had already understood, "Why didn't the teacher tell ......?" ”

"It's useless to just tell you," said Goth, "as long as we find the right way, we can communicate with Yunhai." As long as it is a creature with a soul and can communicate...... You can cast confusion control. The sea of clouds is weaker than usual now, and even I can borrow its power for a moment or two. ”

In fact, in Goth's heart, there are still some small regrets. For him, if he can completely dominate the sea of clouds, and allow himself to use arcane, divine arts, and secret rituals with ease, like the "eternal blood" and the "world of light", then his ability can be called perfect.

But...... After the experiment, he had to abandon the plan for the time being. Even if you confuse and control the sea of clouds and let it give itself a lowest-level sea of clouds primary divine power, the preparations and consumption you have to make will almost catch up with the blue ocean-level arcane. Most of the secret weapons of the empire also "ignore themselves".

On the contrary, it is to trigger the order of "cloud tide", and Yunhai is much more obedient. Even if the continent is not sinking, Goth can summon a large "cloud tide" with a concentration of arcane energy several times the normal, and at this moment, he can even summon part of the cloud sea itself, forming a siege on the small sea of clouds that Sham has transformed.

In terms of the "quality" of arcane energy alone, Sham's small sea of clouds is comparable to the real sea of clouds. But Sham's "true self liberation" is not a real sea of clouds after all, and it does not have the ability to replenish energy continuously after consumption.

"Uh......!"

Under the encirclement and compression of the real sea of clouds, in only about ten seconds before and after, Sham's body of the sea of clouds went from stretching for thousands of meters to only a few hundred meters in diameter, and it was still shrinking.

"Now you can be blown away by a blue ocean-level spell," the power of the endless wind elemental began to converge on Goth's "Manfred Staff", "You will die, and the real sea of clouds, probably won't mind if I pluck this 'hair' on its body." ”

Clouds, dissipate.

……

"It's over......"

Sham lay on the ground, dirt staining his white robes.

Goth didn't cast the storm arcane. Before that, Sham, who was already less than 100 meters in size, lifted his "true self liberation" by himself. And Goth also dismissed the sea of clouds around him.

The damage to the "liberation of the true self" will be reflected in the ontology to a certain extent.

The "Body of the Sea of Clouds" is a special liberation of the true self, and even though the erosion of the sea of clouds still caused Sham to lose more than 95% of his volume, his human body is still intact.

But correspondingly...... His mental power was almost gone, and no matter how much arcane he prepared, he couldn't cast one. Goth could clearly feel that his soul itself had been damaged in some way.

"Why didn't you make a last effort," said Goth calmly, "you can finally try to suffocate me, or even freeze my body." ”

"Because there's no point," said Sham, with a grim smile, "and even if I do, you'll be ready to resist, teacher." ”

"Huh...... Yes, too. He really deserves to be my disciple, a wise choice. ”

Goth walked over to Sham and looked down at the other man's expression.

"Tell me, teacher," said Sham, with anticipation in his eyes, "where do you come from?" Why are you sure that this time the cosmic portal ...... Won't fail? ”

Goth hesitated for two seconds.

"I think," said Goth, "I have already answered you." ”

He leaned down in front of his future disciples.

Speaking of which, the current Sham is a shell of the "snatcher".

…… I really want to see what he really looks like.

"It's 'eternal blood' and 'the world of light......,'" Sham realized, "in my world...... and people in the parallel worlds I've observed, none of which exist. ”

"They are all beings from another universe," Goeth said, "and are metaphysically completely different cosmic landmarks." I don't think even a single signpost can create a stable channel...... If there are two road signs......"

“…… Then I'm relieved. Listening to Goth's words, Sham closed his eyes in reassurance.

He was more familiar with the process of opening the cosmic portal than Goth, or even Mr. Palamedes.

A single road sign is extremely insecure. But there are two living beings as signposts...... The success of the project is assured.

Even if there is a little bit of risk...... It doesn't matter, the scroll on his body records a lot of experimental information about opening the cosmic portal. With this information, the successful opening of the cosmic portal is already a certainty.

"Is there anything else you'd like to say?" Goth asked.

Goth sensed that Sham was ready to burn his soul.

If he didn't give a satisfactory answer just now, I'm afraid that Sham would directly oppose it, or even launch an attack, and try to die with him. The mage apprentices who remain in Empedocles now are all from Nicholas's faction, and whoever holds the seat of the "Guardian of the Sea of Clouds" retains a spark for Nicholas.

"What about you, teacher?" Sham seemed to be muttering to himself, "Do you still have a guide for me?" ”

"Your last judgment is wise," said Goth, "I am not sure that my reliance is infallible. You are not my disciple, Sham. “

"Thank you, teacher." Sham said softly, a relieved smile.

With that, his head tilted to the side, and he stopped breathing forever.

……

Gother didn't speak for a long time.

"Really," Goth shook his head after a while, "just teleported to a parallel world in the middle of nowhere, an earlier era, so there's no need to pretend to be dead." ”

The young mage stood up.

"In this world, I'll have to bother looking for you, too, won't I? I hope that you have the prototype of this spell in the relics of this body, and you don't need to spend extra mental energy......"

Putting his thoughts aside, Goth raised his "Manfred Staff" again. The spiritual power is integrated into the sea of clouds and the magic net, and the ritual of becoming the "guardian of the sea of clouds" also begins.

Sixth Seal ...... Launch!