Chapter 12: The Library? The Recording Sanctuary, Every Word Contains Mystery
The gauze of the high windows billowed, wrapped in the slanting, warm sunlight. The Executors stood before the towering bookshelves, which were already crimson but now appeared even more vibrant due to the setting sun. They leaned against the sandalwood supports, their faces grim as they looked at the youth standing in the very center of the library's vast open space.
Lu Kang's long coat billowed, its hem covered in a fine, complex silver magic formula, looking like tassels and wings at a glance. The glass chandeliers hanging from the high, curved ceiling of the library slowly lit up, as if the moon were slowly rising!
The lingering sound of Lu Kang's words gradually faded. This moment, this scene, was indeed within the expectations of the three Executors who had laid this ambush. They had joined forces to use the mystery of a 'Miracle' to judge Lu Kang, precisely to cut off his connection with the outside world, to kill him in a sealed state during the ritual. They certainly knew that he was wearing a 'Mystic Code' in the form of a magic workshop, with its formulas outlined. They had taken precautions from the very beginning.
Under that previous isolation, Lu Kang should not have been able to activate his Mystic Code—because under the seal of the mystic power called 'Miracle', the mystery of 'Magecraft' cannot be activated. 'Miracle' and 'Magecraft', just like the Church and magi, are mutually opposed, one waxing while the other wanes, heretical to each other!
But they had not expected that Lu Kang could reveal the source of their intelligence. The information they had obtained about him had indeed come from Rasputin—analyzed from the various clues left behind after his death! Rasputin was a member of the Holy Church, even one of their fellow Executors. This was a fact, but it was also a secret known only to the core members of the Church—the internal members of the Executors, and the archbishops.
And now, this 'Sacristan' Lu Kang could state it so clearly! It was no wonder they had been momentarily surprised. Because of that surprise, there was a moment of hesitation, and thus a crack appeared in the seal and judgment of the 'Miracle'. Lu Kang used that crack to successfully deploy his Mystic Code and break the seal!
"The plan has gone wrong." This time, the Executors no longer spoke in unison. The previous chorus was only a requirement for the 'Miracle' ritual. Now that the ritual was interrupted, there was no longer a need for it.
The Executor standing directly in front of Lu Kang spoke slowly, "Although we don't know where you got your information, it makes no difference to the outcome."
"We were originally thinking of letting you die in absolution," said another Executor standing to Lu Kang's left rear.
"To die judged by God, one will not go to hell to be reborn as a pig or cow, to be slaughtered," said the last Executor to his right rear.
Three people, one after another.
As their words fell, the last rays of the setting sun sank below the horizon. The outside world grew dim. The light from the glass chandeliers in the library flickered and then went out in an instant. The wind picked up, moving swiftly! The figures of the Executors vanished into the darkness. They were faster than the wind, seeming to disappear along with the extinguished lights.
After their disappearance, a flowing light suddenly lit up in the darkness. It was the錯落 (jumbled/interspersed) shadow of a longsword being drawn, and the rolling airwaves of a fist tearing through the air! Three people, from three directions! The gap of a single moment when the lights flickered seemed to be infinitely extended by the Executors' speed, which seemed to have reached the limit of human potential.
Mystery itself is a phenomenon that ordinary people cannot understand or measure. When ordinary people can understand it, mystery will no longer be mystery. And this scene now was precisely something that ordinary people could not understand. The Executors' figures did not seem to be moving, but rather disappearing and then instantly reappearing closer to Lu Kang. They had drawn different weapons.
The first speaker's knightly straight sword cut through the air, tearing through the darkness of the moment, slashing straight at Lu Kang. His posture was clean and decisive, without any hesitation, like a weapon master dominating a battlefield!
The second speaker's gauntlets also glowed with the silver-white color of a miracle. He clenched his fist and threw a punch, pressing down on Lu Kang with the force of a tidal wave. His wrist coiled and sprang like a spring. His body was a cannon mount, his fist a cannonball. A single punch was like a continuous volley of divine fire and thunder!
The first was a weapon master. The second was a martial arts master. As the judgment department of the Holy Church dealing with 'heretics', as the 'executioners' carrying out violent missions, the Executors, in addition to mastering basic 'Miracle' rituals, needed to be proficient in the skills of combat and slaughter! Slaughter was their sole purpose. Imposing punishment on heretics was their ultimate goal! Their weapons were also the 'Black Keys' of the Church's Executors, covered in the mystery of miracles, capable of dissolving magecraft. Under this, Lu Kang's defenses would be suppressed to the greatest extent!
As for the third person, while the other two attacked, he threw back his black, assassin-like outer robe. The silver cross hanging on his chest shook violently as he leaped upwards. The cross was aimed precisely at the suddenly extinguished chandelier in the air. The silver pendant of the cross lit up with a tiny, starlight-like glimmer in the dimness!
A breath later, the lights came on again. What Lu Kang faced was a pincer attack from the front and back, as well as the fall of light from above—light from the chandelier, imbued with 'Miracle'. It stained the floor, the walls, the bookshelves, and even the cover of every book. He had once again used the power of miracles to sever Lu Kang's mystic connection with his surroundings! Although it was not as thorough or long-lasting as the previous seal, only an instantaneous isolation, a single moment was enough when Lu Kang was dealing with attacks, unable to mobilize any external force!
"Accept the judgment of God, you priest who has abandoned your faith, you sinner who cultivates the demonic arts of heretics!" the three Executors spoke at the same time.
Sword, fist, and light fell upon Lu Kang simultaneously! The wind howled, and the force of their movements sent the books on the shelves flying! The ground trembled under their steps, and specks of dust danced! Light and shadow blurred, figures intertwined!
Yet, countless books suddenly flipped open. Lu Kang squinted his eyes, facing the attack and the isolation. Time seemed to extend again—extended to a much longer scale of change! But this time, it was not just a change in perception, but a change in reality. The Executors' movements slowed. Their consciousness could clearly feel their speed lagging, as if an infinite resistance were holding them back, or as if there were a huge rift between reality and their consciousness!
Lu Kang's eyes reflected the blade before him, and the fist like a thunderous cannonball behind him. They... were coming very slowly!
He exhaled, his tone returning to calm. "So I said... it's a real shame the Burial Agency didn't come themselves. A shame for the gift I prepared!" Lu Kang's face broke into a triumphant smile. "Did you really think that in the fifty-three days I've been in this library, I've been modifying it into my magic workshop?" He looked up at the third Executor, the one who had once again used a miracle to sever his connection with the surrounding mystery.
What this third Executor had done was just as Lu Kang had said—he had used the brilliance of a 'Miracle' to sever Lu Kang's connection with the library itself. In that moment, the walls, the dome, the bookshelves, and even the books were all covered by a layer of isolation from the light of the miracle-imbued chandelier. No matter whether this place had been modified by Lu Kang into a workshop or not, this method would prevent him from mobilizing any mystery here. This was the experience left behind by generations of Executors after countless battles with magi in their workshops. It was a method that had been tried and tested a hundred times against magi—but this time, it had clearly failed!
"Unfortunately, you guessed wrong," Lu Kang said, looking at them who had slowed down. His own speed remained as normal as he easily stepped around the blade and fist that had been slowed down countless times. Lu Kang's clothes, covered in fine formulas, left a bright trail in the air. Amidst the scattered specks of afterglow, the youth strolled to a bookshelf and bent down to pick up a book that had fallen from it.
He slowly opened the book. The yellowed pages, with every word flowing with light, every word on every page inscribed with a mystic code! Yes. The Executors had guessed wrong! Fifty-three days, five hundred and thirty hours. He had never modified this library.
What he had modified were the books here. He had inscribed his own magical markings on the books. On the books, he had inscribed the formulas for manifesting mystery. A single book was an infinitely miniaturized 'spell'. And when they were linked together, they would become an extremely strong domain. Become a sanctuary of magecraft!
This was Lu Kang's third layer of sanctuary. It resonated with the mystic formulas on his clothes and the magecraft inscribed on his skin, forming a three-layer resonance. It slowed down the operation of space, while his magic robe and skin accelerated his body's speed, allowing him to remain as normal as a human! Compared to the Executors who had broken in here, he was faster than lightning!
"You can isolate the library, you can isolate the walls, the dome, the bookshelves, and even the covers of the books, but you cannot touch every single page of every single book." Lu Kang closed the book with a smile.
With a snap, as the pages came together, the outermost 'Sanctuary' formula closed. The world returned to its initial state. The Executors' slow movements returned to normal, but their sword and fist had undoubtedly missed. The time for the miracle used by the Executor in the air to isolate the inside and outside also came to an end. They sheathed their swords and clenched their fists, standing firm. The last one also descended from the air.
Their faces grimmer than before, they looked at Lu Kang, who was bathed in the light of the re-lit chandelier. The youth holding the book stood before the bookshelf, backed by a vast sea of books. His robe was still glowing silver. He held a book in his hand. But at this moment, the Executors had a strange illusion. They felt that they were not standing in a library, but on the book Lu Kang was holding, standing between the gaps of the pages... completely at his mercy!
Magecraft: The Recording Sanctuary.
Here, every word contains mystery! Contains his mystery!
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