We live in the Foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Water Moon Palace Formation.
“Lady Madrine, is everything truly alright?”
It wasn’t that I doubted Ruiseine and Lady Madrine’s abilities, but I still worried about whether twelve people could really unleash a grand magic spell involving dozens of people.
“Muki! It’ll be fine! My will is aligned with Elnea-kun and the others at a high level. Therefore, I can’t afford to lose to our ancestors!”
Lady Madrine huffed in anger, looking like her usual self for the first time in a while.
Well, the priestesses who didn’t know Lady Madrine well were taken aback by the sight of a noble priestess throwing a tantrum.
I patted Lady Madrine’s head to soothe her.
Since Lady Madrine wasn’t truly angry, she calmed down immediately. Or rather, she became cheerful after her head was patted.
“Understood. We will trust Lady Madrine. However, we’ll readily help with anything we can, won’t we?”
“Knowing you say that gives me great strength.”
With that, Lady Madrine extended both her hands to me, and I grasped her right hand.
Then, without a word, my family moved naturally.
Ruiseine took Lady Madrine’s left hand. Mistral, Laira, Yufilia, and Nina, and Sefina-san. Everyone held hands.
Nimiar also climbed onto my head, fully prepared.
“Now, you ladies, stop standing around idly and join our circle.”
“Y-Yes!”
At Lady Madrine’s instruction, the ten priestesses joined the circle as well.
We formed a circle around the moss-covered stone monument and quietly closed our eyes.
As we entered a deep meditative state, the life breaths of everyone holding hands flowed into me in a mysterious way, and then spread to others.
“Th-This is a strange sensation…?”
The priestesses showed surprise at everyone’s power flowing within their bodies.
“To feel so much power just by holding the hands of those who are neither priestesses nor priests.”
“Just who are you people…?”
“We can discuss that later. For now, concentrate on the upcoming ritual. I will recite the incantation. Please follow along with me.”
“Yes!”
Lady Madrine always takes the lead in times like these.
She reined in the priestesses, who were getting flighty from the unprecedented flow of power, and directed their consciousness inward.
For us, it was a familiar sensation.
Everyone enhances their consciousness towards a single goal, becoming one in spirit. When that happens, our power naturally begins to flow and becomes a great main current.
Yes, much like a dragon vein connecting several tributaries.
Inside our circle, our wishes and powers circulated along with our magic power, gradually amplifying.
The strong magic power residing in Mistral’s Dragon Jewel was also added, increasing the power beyond the capacity of twelve people.
“The creator goddess who dwells in the moon palace.”
Lady Madrine began to recite the incantation quietly.
Ruiseine and the priestesses recited along with Lady Madrine’s incantation.
The main current of power, which had been merely a flow, now carried prayers.
Lady Madrine recited the incantation with a beautiful voice, different from Ruiseine’s, with a long, resonant tone.
Without stumbling over the complex ritual words, she read the inscriptions on the stone monument while imbuing them with magic power.
Now, what exactly would happen next?
Ruiseine, Lady Madrine, and the priestesses poured all their magic power into the ritual.
However, even after Lady Madrine finished the long, long incantation, there was no change in the powerful magic power flowing between us.
Did it end in failure?!
Perhaps that’s what the priestesses were thinking.
Indeed, I could feel their anxiety flowing from the hands we held.
But don’t worry.
Lady Madrine’s true strength was yet to come.
“Reverentially Offer again.”
Lady Madrine began to recite the incantation once more.
Layered magic. It was Lady Madrine’s specialty.
If it fails once, repeat it. This way, the power is amplified twice, three times, guiding the spell to its intended form.
“Nyan. The lake is amazing, nyan.”
Nimiar, on top of my head, hopped around.
While keeping our consciousness focused, we opened our eyes and looked at the lake.
And we were surprised.
“Hahahaha! The lake’s surface is shining like a full moon!”
“It looks like a full moon reflected on the ground. Ah! Stars are rising from that full moon lake!”
“Rather than stars, aren’t they clusters of water shining with the color of the full moon?”
Mistral was right.
The radiance of the stars rising from the water’s surface was lake water shining like a full moon.
Water clusters of various sizes rose into the sky, creating a water-formed full moon in the sky.
We gazed up in astonishment at the mysterious magic that created such a fantastic landscape.
“Everyone, concentrate!”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Ruiseine scolded us.
We hurriedly brought our consciousness back inward, helping to amplify the power circulating within our circle.
The magic power that had been circulating only within us, who were holding hands, was now released along with Lady Madrine’s and the priestesses’ incantations.
The prayer-filled words melted into the lake, manifesting their power as magic.
Surrendering ourselves to the very gentle and compassionate flow of power, different from the flow of dragon energy and dragon veins, we felt mysteriously healed, both physically and mentally.
Magic power is truly a mysterious force.
It’s like a fragment of the goddess’s feelings.
The water moon in the sky absorbed the radiance of the stars rising from the lake, gradually growing larger. At the same time, the lake’s water level began to recede.
“Look. I can see ruins beneath the lake.”
“Look. I can see ruins that look like a gate on the lake’s wall.”
“Could that be the Gate of Underworld Prison?”
Even though our consciousness was directed inward, everyone’s gaze was drawn to the world of the fantastic magic.
And then, in the direction of Yufilia, Nina, and Sefina-san’s gazes. Large ruins could be seen at the bottom of the deep lake.
A main street beautifully paved with stone. The remains of various-sized stone structures. Magnificent stone pillars, and the remains of a fountain in a plaza.
And then, a solemn gate, carved into a sheer cliff face soaring towards the lakebed, surfaced from beneath the water.
Lady Madrine finished reciting the incantation for the second time.
Then, the water moon created in the sky vanished as if it melted into the sky.
We were once again stunned, gazing up at the mysterious sight.
“Perhaps it’s a magic spell called the Water Moon Palace Formation. To think that our ancestors could devise such a grand magic spell in this place… as their descendants, I am deeply moved.”
“Formation, you say? Does that mean it’s a barrier-type magic spell?”
To my question, Lady Madrine nodded, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
Ruiseine and the priestesses were also wiping their sweat, their breaths ragged.
“What you saw as a lake was the effect of the barrier magic. Therefore, now that the Water Moon Palace Formation has been dispelled, the water that appeared to be a lake and the full moon in the sky have disappeared.”
“Eeeh!?”
Surprised, we looked again at the deep depression that had been the lake.
Indeed, the ancient ruins at the bottom of the depression were not wet, nor were there any fish leaping in the lakebed.
In other words, it was a phantom lake created by magic.
And by Lady Madrine and the others dispelling the Water Moon Palace Formation, the hidden ruins had been revealed.
That solemn gate carved into the lakebed wall must undoubtedly be the ‘Gate of Underworld Prison.’
The members of the Imperial Honored Mansion, including Esneed, were also astonished by the miraculous phenomenon that had just occurred before their eyes.
Slustal and the Winged Tribe people were simply watching the scene quietly.
Slustal and his kind had probably seen this phenomenon before. When the Demon Race attacked.
How many priestesses had sacrificed themselves back then?
However, this time, not a single person was lost.
The priestesses were breathing heavily, but they did not look exhausted or faint.
“Thanks to Lady Madrine.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, the priestesses gathered around Lady Madrine, rejoicing.
I completely understood how they felt.
After all, the priestesses had come here prepared to die. Not only did they meet a descendant of the Variety Family, which belonged to the Holy Four Families, even if through a branch line, but they had also succeeded in a grand magical feat without any sacrifices.
We also celebrated together, holding hands.
However, the situation did not allow for prolonged celebration.
“I will tell you all in advance: this spell seems to be a self-reviving one. Or rather, the incantation we just performed only temporarily neutralizes the effect of the Water Moon Palace Formation.”
“Eh!?”
To my question of “What do you mean?”, Lady Madrine looked down at the back of the moss-covered stone monument and explained.
“My guess is that Yushida-sama once unleashed the grand magic spell ‘Water Moon Palace Formation’ through a large-scale ritual. Therefore, the incantation we recited now only slightly touched the surface of the Water Moon Palace Formation.”
“Eeeh! This is just the surface part!?”
Then, what was the true extent of the Water Moon Palace Formation’s power?
“Yes. The incantation carved on this stone monument seems to be only for dispelling the surface of the Water Moon Palace Formation. And now for the important part: the surface part that was dispelled by the current incantation is likely a means to enter the ruins ahead.”
“So… the main body of the Water Moon Palace Formation is still sealing something terrifying, and what we just did was only reciting an incantation to open the entrance, the ‘Gate of Underworld Prison’?”
“That’s right. Therefore, to prevent what the core of the spell is sealing from reviving, it is likely designed to automatically reseal the entrance after a certain period.”
“What amazing magic!”
How many people and what scale of ritual did Yushida-sama perform?
And what did the person who inherited the Variety family name seal with such a ritual?
The Gate of Underworld Prison visible on the lakebed wall.
What awaited beyond the gate, masterfully carved into the cliff face?
“Slustal-san, don’t you know?”
I called out to Slustal, who had been quietly observing the incantation.
Then, Slustal silently shifted his gaze from the Gate of Underworld Prison to me and opened his heavy lips.
