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"The Princess is back!!"
"Princess!!"
Even in the early morning, there weren't many pedestrians on the dock, but when Ariel's ship appeared, faint cheers still drifted down from above their heads.
Why did I say 'drifted down from above their heads'?
Because the dock was literally 'above' everyone's heads.
In a physical sense.
The royal capital, Asura, the oldest city in human history, stood majestically on the highest mountain ridge in the western part of the Central Continent.
The Human-Demon War witnessed its glory and splendor, and similarly, as the last bridgehead of the human race on the Central Continent, the city as a whole was a massive fortress.
The time was now 7:32 AM. The ship had passed through the somewhat deserted outer royal capital, arriving outside Asura's fifth wall, and at the end of the Artir River outside the royal capital's walls.
Here, the Artir River was abruptly cut off by a magnificent, towering 'shadow' that stretched across the river's end, its top almost entirely out of sight.
—The Artir River Dam, 380 meters long and 97 meters high. Its main steel structure's gates bore heavy rust, while the dam's masonry on either side was covered in moss and dense, mottled water streaks from high above.
This ancient man-made engineering marvel spanned the Artir River, sitting atop the city walls on either bank, which were a head shorter than it.
It formed an artificial chasm.
It was said to have risen under the direct command of the human hero of that era, the Golden Knight Aldebaran—its primary purpose was to prevent the demon race, with their sea-dwelling allies' funded sea beasts, from launching surprise attacks by traveling upstream the Artir River.
Ariel looked up and waved to the people on the docks atop the walls on either side. Beside her, Eris, her head tilted high, gazed at the dock dozens of meters above, and the faintly visible, tiny black specks of heads waving their arms by the railing.
Her eyes were wide with wonder.
Rudy and Sylphy had similar expressions, though the former showed a dazed admiration, while the latter was simply awestruck.
"Is this... a water dam similar to an elevator lock?" Rudy asked in astonishment.
Allen understood what Rudy meant, but he didn't respond. Instead, he looked up at the Artir River Dam, a look of contemplation in his eyes.
He mused over the grand scheme of the Demon Dragon King Laplace and his tragic yet dramatic life.
This fellow truly devoted himself to the First Dragon God's command, preparing for Orsted's birth and the defeat of Human God. For thousands of years, he engaged in mad research, constantly opposing Human God. When he saw Human God helping demons attack humans, this guy couldn't sit still and went all out to aid humans.
But he never expected that Human God's goal was precisely to lure him into the game, cunningly stealing his research成果—the God-Fighting Armor—during the Second Human-Demon War. He then beguiled the Undying Demon Lord to wear it and engage in a desperate battle with the disguised 'Golden Knight,' ultimately succeeding in splitting him into "God of Technique - Laplace" and "Demon God - Laplace."
Yes, damn it, the first four of the Seven Great Powers were all 'family.'
The God of Technique and the Demon God were each half of the Demon Dragon King Laplace. The Dragon God was the Dragon Race's Crown Prince. The God of Combat was the Demon Dragon King's top research achievement over these past millennia.
And so, Orsted's tormented dragon life began—the Demon Dragon King's single-minded resolve to defeat 'Human God' also fractured with the splitting of his body and consciousness. The separated God of Technique became a research fanatic solely intent on overthrowing 'God,' wandering the world without a trace.
The Dragon God lost his initial caregiver from the early loops, transforming from a fully-equipped pay-to-win game account that directly inherited all knowledge, techniques, and equipment at the start of the loops, into a miserable player who could only cultivate alone. He could even, in his early, penniless, blank-slate state, be killed by damn bandits with a demigod's rank, or poisoned by pufferfish.
Each cycle requiring him to re-develop his powers greatly hindered the Dragon God's growth rate.
And this was the good part. If it were just this, Orsted could consider burning high incense for Laplace, who he should call 'uncle.'
The problem was that the other half the Demon Dragon King split into, the Demon God Laplace, was a stubborn, reckless idiot.
A fragment of the First Dragon God's shattered divine gem was on this guy. He used this gem, which was supposed to be given to the Dragon God by the Demon Dragon King Laplace, to wield divine power and furiously wage war against humans. Because he inherited the part of the consciousness that hated 'humans.'
So, not only was this guy useless, but he also became Human God's final BOSS before the Dragon God could meet him.
Human God timed the Demon Race's Transmigration Magic perfectly, arranging for Demon God Laplace's resurrection to coincide precisely with the end of Orsted's loop.
Orsted needed to kill him to retrieve the divine gem fragment, and the Demon God, having lost his memories, certainly wouldn't just offer his neck for the slaughter. The two were bound to fight.
Such high-level battles usually resulted in the Dragon God's already scarce mana, used to maintain the Loop Secret Art, being completely depleted. This meant Orsted couldn't gather the divine gems in full power and then break through the material world to confront Human God.
He was completely and utterly outmaneuvered.
Tragic.
"Open the gates!!!"
A distant shout from overhead roused Allen. He turned to look at the steel gate before them, like a smooth cliff face spanning their path.
Rumble, rumble.
Amidst the deafening sound of the gates being pulled, the dam's gates slowly rose. Inside, the river water was still, gently undulating.
Beyond the river water.
There was another gate.
Rudy's mouth hung open, his expression utterly shocked. He tilted his head, looking at the gate, then turned to the empty control rooms on either side, finally fixing his gaze on the faint, massive, nested patterns carved into the gate and the dam walls on both sides.
Then he pulled out the puppet's severed arm from his pocket.
The nested magic circle at the severed arm was strikingly similar to the patterns on the gate and dam walls.
"Not human power! This is, ma-magic circles?! Using Water Magic as a power source to agitate the chains and lift the gates???"
"That's right, isn't it astonishing?" Allen responded with a smile. "It couldn't be human power; such massive steel gates simply couldn't be lifted by human strength."
"Raise anchor!!" The boatmen's enthusiasm for going home was evident in their synchronized shouts. The sailboat slowly entered the lock chamber. When it reached a certain position, the magic circles on both sides suddenly emitted rippling light, and a Wind Magic spell constructed underwater fixed the ship within the lock gates.
Clank!!!
The ship rocked slightly, then came to a steady halt.
Rumble, rumble, the gate behind them slowly descended, covering the boundless Artir River that had stretched far away on the surface, sinking into the water.
Amidst the rippling river water, the gate sealed shut, and the spacious lock chamber was plunged into darkness.
The sudden darkness enveloped everyone. Allen suddenly felt someone tightly grasp his arm.
Sense Flow registered it—it was Sylphy.
He chuckled to himself, finding the child timid, and clasped Sylphy's hand in return.
At this moment, the brief period of darkness adaptation passed, and faint light streamed down from above.
Everyone looked up.
The shaft.
The sky above the lock chamber, being in darkness, instinctively looked like a square white handkerchief, but it was light, light from the sky.
Like looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.
Sylphy exhaled softly. The child had truly never seen such a grand sight. In just two short years, under Allen's 'guidance,' she had leaped from Buena Village to Roa City in the Fittoa territory, and now from Roa to the royal capital.
Everything she saw and heard constantly redefined her understanding of this world.
Just then, she felt that someone wasn't looking at the sky, but instead turned their head down to look at her.
She shifted her gaze. Allen's face held a teasing expression. He was secretly tickling her palm and blinking.
Sylphy's face immediately flushed.
In a daze.
Wind brushed their faces, and then, it brightened.
A cerulean glow bathed everyone's cheeks.
This faint light came from the massive, nested magic circles on the gate's body.
"Using... using Wind Magic to enhance the gate's airtightness? So... so amazing..."
Rudy kept turning his head in shock, looking at the gates on either side, his expression utterly bewildered.
Derrick Redbat, with a hint of pride in his voice, explained to him.
"This is the Artir River Dam. After the First Human-Demon War, it took the efforts of all the mage guilds and construction artisans in the entire royal capital, two years to complete. Don't let its ancient appearance fool you; the magic circle part has had almost no problems to date, because the magic circles themselves are equipped with Wind Magic for self-cleaning. Plus, with daily use, the amount of magic stones consumed each year is no small sum. However, even so, the 'lifting tax' should make up for this consumption."
"Lifting tax?" Even though she could now see their surroundings, Sylphy didn't release Allen's hand. Only out of shyness, she hid Allen's hand, which was holding hers, behind their bodies.
"Yes, anyone using this dam must pay a lifting—"
Mid-sentence, Derrick Redbat suddenly realized that the main subject of Sylphy's question was the word 'lifting,' not the 'tax' part. He shook his head and pointed upwards.
"Look, don't you feel like the sky above your heads has gotten bigger?"
Sylphy looked up, blinking adorably at the sky, but then she saw Allen's teasing gaze again.
She frowned, and subtly tapped Allen's waist with the hand she was holding.
"The water level is rising, the Water Column magic circle, releasing water... This is just the first lock chamber... If this continues, the Artir River will keep expanding its width... Will the downstream towns be alright...?"
Derrick Redbat turned, looking at Rudy in surprise, astonished that he could immediately discern the dam's purpose.
Isolte narrowed her eyes, looking at Sylphy grasping Allen's hand. She chuckled and poked Sylphy, pointing to the gate beside them.
Sylphy followed the direction of her finger, and only then, in the dim light, did she notice the water level continuously rising. The parts of the sluice gate that had been covered in moss earlier had disappeared, and the water surface had reached the position of the mottled water streaks that had clearly been overhead moments ago.
Unconsciously, they had already 'lifted' over twenty meters.
Derrick Redbat then explained to Rudy.
"It's fine. The Artir River's main course only flows through one city, Flowing Falls City. The docks around Flowing Falls City were themselves designed with water diversion capabilities. Didn't you notice some tributaries around the docks along the way? Many are artificially dug river mouths."
"I see... That's truly amazing, that magic circles can be used like that... This is an application method completely unseen in Roa. Are there many public facilities in the royal capital that utilize magic circles in this way?"
At his words, Derrick Redbat's face, which had been somewhat proud moments ago, stiffened for an instant. Then, Ariel, who had been leaning against the ship's rail, looking somewhat dazed, took over the conversation.
She gazed at the gate and slowly began to speak.
"Unfortunately, in this vast royal capital, across thousands of years, there is only this one facility that utilizes the convenience of magic, right before your eyes."
"In my childhood... the first time I saw the Artir Dam, I was as excited as Mr. Rudy and Miss Sylphy. I still remember that feeling."
"And at that time, I felt deep down that this wonderful application method was very suitable for public welfare and for Asura's long-term development. It was a path towards Asura's future... But over the years, as I grew up, I found that this royal capital of Asura, only this Artir Dam, accompanied by the legend of heroes and passed down from a very distant past, possessed such a miraculous application linked with magic."
"And in the peaceful era of the Asura Kingdom's royal capital, no one would spend money on this aspect. Even the Mage Corps, due to the lack of war, gradually lost their prominence in the royal capital, and no one ever considered such things."
After she finished speaking, Derrick Redbat looked at Ariel with considerable emotion. If she wasn't interested in magic, who would go to the Magic University each year to watch magic performances? The Magic University held the lowest status among all academies in the royal capital, and the status of mages was also low; it wasn't worth Ariel investing too much social energy into.
Allen, meanwhile, glanced at Ariel, and the storyline of her developing magic in Asura upon her ascension suddenly felt real to him.
A person's future choices had already planted seeds in the past.
However...
"That includes me too."
"Now, I am also one of those who 'doesn't consider such things'."
Ariel's voice continued to resound in the lock chamber.
Everyone froze in unison and fell silent.
Rudy subconsciously wanted to say something, but after glancing at Allen, who was simply staring quietly at Ariel with no particular reaction.
He closed his mouth again.
Click!
The ship swayed slightly; everyone felt the boat stop.
Rumble, rumble, the second gate before them opened. The ship was then propelled by Wind Magic into the second lock chamber.
Though the skylight was closer.
Having entered the second lock chamber, the light grew even dimmer.
Their vision once again entered a deeper period of darkness adaptation.
At the same time, Allen felt his arm being squeezed tightly again.
He chuckled faintly, involuntarily turning to comfort Sylphy.
The next instant.
A force pulled his arm, and a soft body pressed against him.
It was somewhat cold, slightly damp, very soft, a familiar sensation.
It pressed against his neck.
A fleeting touch, then separated.
The gate lowered, and their vision adapted to the gloom.
Allen turned to look beside him.
Her reddish-brown eyes, in the darkness, were clearly visible to him.
The white-haired girl was pouting, looking up at him.
It was as if she was retaliating for his teasing earlier; or expressing her dissatisfaction at constantly watching Ariel; or perhaps her frustration at being too short to kiss his cheek even with the leverage of his arm.
So, which situation was it?
It seemed...
...it didn't matter.
Allen thought so.
The Wind Magic stirred the air, dancing between their entwined gazes.
Dancing.
Dancing.
Yet.
Wind shouldn't dance.
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