2024-08-08 22:59:44
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Chapter 430
"They anchored the Warden there, in the dark," Caster said. He opened his eyes and looked right into Lysane’s face. "They used the massive, heavy gravity of the Warden’s magic to stabilize the broken world. And then... they built the Tower directly on top of the anchor. They used the Warden to hold the Tower in the sky."Lysane stared at him. The silence in the small clearing was absolute. Even the chained books seemed to stop shivering."The Tower is not a shield," Caster said softly. The words tasted like poison in his mouth. "The Tower is a parasite. We are a tick drinking the blood of a sleeping giant. The First Chancellor knew it. He built it this way on purpose. He traded the soul of the world so his people could live in floating white castles."Caster paused, letting the horror sink in. Then he delivered the final, crushing blow."That is why the Tower’s wards look exactly like the Blackthorn roots," Caster explained. "We saw the blueprints on your table, Lysane. The wards do n
Chapter 429
The air in the deep, lower sections of the Subterranean Archives was very heavy. It was not just heavy with dust. It was heavy with secrets.Caster Spellbound walked away from the stone pillar with the glowing gray rune. He left the main area of the giant library and walked deeper into the dark. Archmage Lysane had told him to meet her in the final room. The room where the Tower Council kept the books that were too dangerous to burn.Caster’s boots made a soft scraping sound on the dry stone floor. He was completely exhausted. His old bones felt like they were made of lead. His chest ached with every breath. He had broken out of a Null-Magic prison cell. He had walked down thousands of hidden stairs. He had stood face-to-face with the ghost of the First Sage Chancellor. And he had touched the deep magic of the Tower wards, changing the bright blue light to dark gray ash.He was running on pure willpower. He knew he could not stop. If he stopped walking, he might never stand up again.
Chapter 428
Caster thought about Archmage Vane’s face when the single flake of ash fell onto the white table in the Golden Room. He remembered the pure, naked panic in Vane’s eyes."I do not think Vane knows the deep math," Caster said. "I do not think the modern Council understands the true horror of the Pact Seal. They are politicians, not builders. But..."Caster paused. He remembered how quickly Vane had ordered him to be erased. He remembered how fast Vane had banished Lysane to the dark."But they are not ignorant," Caster finished. "They know enough. They know the Tower is sick. They know the Ashfall is coming from inside the house. And they are hiding it. They are beneficiaries of a lie. The lie worked for a thousand years. It kept them rich and powerful. And now that the lie is breaking, they just want to kill anyone who points at the cracks in the wall.""They are sacrificing the poor people in the lower Rings," Lysane said with deep disgust. "They let the Ashfall eat the common people
Chapter 427
Lysane nodded, her face turning pale in the orange light. "Exactly. Now look here." She pointed to a thick, jagged line near the edge. "The Council calls this the Hard Wall. It is supposed to block dark energy.""That is an Entropy Tolerance line," Caster said. He felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. "It does not block dark energy. It absorbs it. It acts like a sponge. It takes the dark waste and pushes it down.""Down," Lysane repeated. She looked at Caster with terrified eyes. "Down to the roots. Down to the Warden."Caster leaned his hands heavily on the table. The math was perfect. The proof was right in front of them."There is one more," Lysane said softly. She pointed to the very center of the map. There was a tiny, complex shape that looked like a star. "The targeting rune. I was taught that this rune helps the ward know the difference between a human and a beast. It protects the living."Caster stared at the star. He felt sick. "Lysane... that is Soul-Reactive Logic.
Chapter 426
Caster Spellbound walked away from the giant, charred cavern. He left the massive silver Pact Seal behind him. He did not break the ancient anchor. Not yet. The ghost of the First Sage Chancellor had told him a terrible truth. If Caster broke the seal, the Tower would fall. A million innocent people would die in the blink of an eye.Caster needed to know if the ghost was lying. Ghosts lied all the time. He needed to see the math with his own two eyes. He needed proof.He climbed up the narrow, black stone stairs. His legs burned. His chest ached. He was an old man, and his body was running out of time. But his mind was completely clear.When he reached the top of the hidden stairs, the stone wall ground shut behind him. He was back in the dusty, forgotten hallways of the lower Tower.He did not go back to his bright white cell in the Fifth Ring. He turned his boots toward the lowest place in the city. He walked toward the Subterranean Archives.The air grew colder. The smell of wet st
Chapter 425
The ash falling on the city, the sickness in the lower Rings, the memory-storms... it was not an invasion. It was the Warden trying to fix the balance. The Tower was too heavy. The parasite was too greedy. The Warden was finally waking up to shake the parasite off its back.Caster looked up at the high, dark ceiling. He thought about the millions of people living in the Tower above him. Innocent children, tired workers, brave guards like Torin, and blind politicians like Vane.Caster had told Kael that they needed to burn the Blackthorn Network. He had told Kael that they needed to destroy the anchor to close the door and stop the Warden.But now, Caster saw the terrifying truth of his own plan.If Caster destroyed this Pact Seal... if he burned this giant silver anchor... he would not just free the Warden.He would remove the foundation of the Tower itself.The Tower did not float because of bright blue magic. It floated because it was resting on the heavy, dark magic of the Ash Ward
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