378 Destruction From The Sky

"You mean, Godfall's formation has been activated?" Baiyi hurriedly asked. He speedily spread out his psychic energy, but after a while, he retracted it. With an expression of bemusement, he said, "But I felt nothing. Not a single magical pulse."

"In Astrology, the stars change before whatever affects them changes. This is why they can be used to predict future events, and this is also why you have not felt anything just yet," the Astrologer Walker replied in the gravest tone of voice Baiyi had ever seen him use. "I don't know what has given stars these properties, and I have no theory to explain it. However, every record we have had — and every note we have made — throughout history has shown that this predictive property does, in fact, exist. The enemy's formation is about to be activated. Please, believe me on this one!"

"Don't worry. On this matter, I believe you." Baiyi's firmly replied.

The Astrologer Walker was adept at Astrology, yet he had often referred to the discipline as a 'sham'. The reason for this was more personal than he had let on. First, after exchanging memories with Baiyi, from which he learned about Earth's astronomy, he had realized that, in this world, the stars above were fake. Secondly, while Astrology could be used to accurately predict changes in nature, many astrologers, who are motivated by self-interest, use it to con people of their money. The dishonest astrologers make fake predictions about the fate of these individuals, for a fee.

Astrology was a useful subject. If this was not the case, it would have died out after the Ancient Rohlserlian period. Although the Astrologer Walker was now one of the biggest perverts amongst the Gentlemen of the Void, he was once an aspiring astrologer, who fervently memorized the position of every star in the sky. Eventually, he was able to tell what would happen just by watching changes in the sky above. He could be considered a living star chart.

With this prowess, he would have been able to fool some wealthy aristocrats, which, in turn, would have earned him the position of Royal Principal Astrologer. In this position, he could have lived a life of luxury and fame.

However, he never considered conning the masses with fake predictions. As an idealist, he was ostracized and oppressed by other astrologers, but this did little to change his ideals. Despite living as a destitute, whose abilities were unknown to most, he wrote countless papers in which he debunked the predictions of conmen posing as astrologers. He dedicated his life to this.

These 'crimes' should have warranted him a life sentence in prison at most, but he ended up paying a far worse price for his cheek: banishment to the Void. This was because the enemies he had made were powerful.

If one was a scholar who spent their entire life diligently striving to preserve an academic discipline, only to realize that what they had studied for ages was a comic hoax, how would they feel? What sort of impact would it have on them? It had taken a lot of willpower for the Astrologer Walker to accept the truth. The pleasures of being a perverted Gentleman of the Void had helped him numb his pain, preventing him from slipping into insanity.

If the Astrologer Walker was not obsessed with rubbing the breasts and licking the thighs of females, he would have garnered more respect from the other Voidwalkers.

Although Baiyi had immense faith in the Astrologer Walker's knowledge, he did not think that the Voidwaker's information meant much. All it affirmed was that Godsfall was planning something big.

"If that was all my knowledge could provide, would I not have remained quiet instead of attempting to be a try-hard?" The Astrologer walker said with a sigh. "Sir Hope, can you bring up a picture of the map that Mr. Bear made for you using rocks? I'll share a star chart here, too, and then place some markers on locations where the position and behavior of stars have changed. After that, you can compare my chart to the rock map."

Baiyi did as the Voidwalker had asked. Two pictures appeared in his mind: the rock map and the star chat. Baiyi began to adjust the star chat's ratio so that it would become the same size as the rock map. When he succeeded, he overlayed the latter with the former.

To his surprise and delight, both pictures matched in certain areas! The areas where Mr. Bear had placed large rocks correlated with the points of interest that the Astrologer Walker had marked on the star chart.

Next, Baiyi removed the small rocks which signified locations where stars had no anomalies, leaving behind only those that did. When he connected the rocks that were left over, they formed a formation!

"This is amazing," Baiyi whispered.

"'The stars can divine the fate and future of all things.' Every astrologer are told this when they first start learning Astrology. It is not completely true, but it is not a lie, either. Actions with larger effects would always be shown by the stars," the Astrologer Walker added.

"Using the changes in the stars, I can actually map out the locations on ground that are largely causing the changes above, much like how I can predict the weather and climate of a location. I think you know what that means," the Astrologer Walker finished.

"Of course," Baiyi replied. The Book of Servitude appeared above Baiyi's palm. "How much is the margin of error?"

"Two thousand to three thousand yards," the Astrologer Walker said, giving a conservative answer.

"Fine by me! I just need to spam my spells a few times to offset that," Baiyi said in excitement.

There were many things that could make a sorcerer giddy, but the ability to use a forbidden spell multiple times in order to hit a target from far away took the cake!

Earlier, Baiyi had already considered casting some long-range forbidden spells at the locations marked with large stones. He had a long list of forbidden spells to choose from — thanks to the Voidwalkers. As there was not much to do in the Void, the Voidwalkers spend a lot of time to improve many of the forbidden spells that Baiyi had in his repertoire. Many of the forbidden spells that were improved were long-ranged forbidden spells.

Even without the help of his psychic energy, which could be used to lock onto a target, Baiyi still knew the coordinates of the targets he wished to hit. The Empire Complex was too massive, while the rock map Mr. Bear made for him was too coarse that he could not use it to accurately pinpoint the locations he sought, as it only provided the direction of a site. Using only the rock map now was akin to trying his luck — an action that was bound to attract the attention of his enemies.

Now, thanks to Astrology, the margin of error was significantly reduced. The rest would be handled by the spells in the Book of Servitude; their blast range was large enough to make up for the little errors. 

Soon, the Astrologer Walker finished drawing a map in which he had plotted the coordinates Baiyi required. After musing through the list of forbidden spells improved by the Voidwalkers, Baiyi settled on one, which he considered most suitable for the task ahead. He contacted Potter the Owl — who was back at the temporary sanctuary created for the displaced fairies of Eom Village — and instructed it to turn into armor for Mia. This was so that Mia and Potter could both share the burden that came whenever he drew a lot of mana through her.

The owl complied. Baiyi soon heard Mia's voice through his communication slab. "Hmm? Mr. Owl? How sudden… Is Mr. Hope up to something again? Aahh! Ooh… Hmm, this armor is very pretty, but the skirt is a bit too long…"

'You're still harping on about short skirts?' Baiyi thought in exasperation. Unfortunately, now was not the time for him to reeducate Mia on dressing etiquette.

Baiyi decided to use the same spell that Godsfall used to destroy Eom Village — Fire and Brimstone. As a courteous person who knew all about the custom of gift-giving, Baiyi decided to make Fire and Brimstone the first spell he would cast, thereby paying back his enemies in kind.

As Baiyi began to chant, parts of his armor — his helmet, chest plate, and backplate — were covered by a large oblong formation, which slowly began to turn crimson. Fire mana began to converge by his side. Baiyi's aura, along with the energy pulses he was emitting, increased so much, Mr. Bear, who was a fair distance away, awoke with a start. From where it was, it could see Baiyi chanting the final part of the spell's incantation. The horrifying waves of fire mana suddenly vanished, and the large oblong formation fired of beams of crimson light into the stratosphere.

A moment later, at a location far away, several arches of light cut through the dark fabric of the night, giving rise to a very mighty explosion. The explosion was so large, it left behind a gigantic, fiery mushroom cloud, which pierced the skies. Mr. Bear could feel the earth below it tremble slightly.

"Such a terrifying spell… But, my poor, poor forest…" Mr. Bear sighed.

'You're awake? Good. I'll need your help with Nature's Eye once again, please. If you notice any differences at the locations you marked with large rocks, do let me know" Baiyi said when he noticed the bear, all the way from where he was.

"You… are targetting those places that are far away, from here?" Mr. Bear's eyes widened, aghast at the implication of Baiyi's words. The bear soon recovered its composure and began to use Nature's Eye again, and while using it, it muttered to itself. "Is this the power of magic? No wonder the Wise Mad King abandoned the old ways in order to adopt this destructive form of power."

Just as that thought crossed through its mind, the bear realized that one of the locations marked by large rocks, which had made it feel nauseous, had disappeared. The bear faced the rock map it had made earlier and took the largest rock out.

Baiyi, who was watching from afar, quickly understood what this meant. He selected another location that the Astrologer Walker had marked on its star chart, then he began to ponder on what forbidden spell he would use this time.

A few moments later, a long-range forbidden mud spell was cast. This time, however, Mr. Bear, who was still using Nature's Eye, shook its head sideways. It grabbed a handful of mud from the ground, squeezed it into a lump, and placed it at the right side of a very large rock, implying that Baiyi's spell had missed, going too far right of the target.

With just one look, Baiyi knew how much adjustment he would have to make. The advantage of using this method was that Mr. Bear would use Nature's Eye to only focus on the location Baiyi was striking. As it did not have to use Nature's Eye to view the entire Eternal Tree Ocean, the bear did not have to worry about passing out from fatigue from using Nature's Eye.

While Baiyi and Mr. Bear were cooperating in the real world, the Archmage, the Scholar Walker, and the other Voidwalkers were working hard in the Void. They were hurriedly altering forbidden spells to decrease the power required to cast the spells, ensuring that it fell below Mia's maximum threshold, and also ensuring that the spells' ranges and blast areas increased. 

With the Astrologer Walker's star chart, Mr. Bear's recalibration, and the Voidwalkers' cooperation, Baiyi was sure that he could remain there and, with his altered forbidden spells, dismantle the setups that Godsfall had spent a long time and much effort to build!So, it's kinda like a magician aiming to debunk those psychics, eh? Cool. Reminded me of one of my personal heroes — James Randi! Though that dude ain't too poor, and he's really made a name for himself.