Throne of Magical Arcana

Inside the pope’s library in the Holy City…

“The Rentato Music Festival was live streamed?” Looking at the red robe before him, Benedict III repeated the message that he reported. He was obviously puzzled why such trivia had also been delivered to him. If he had to deal with such insignificant matters in person, why would he need so many red robes?

Sensing Benedict III’s apparent anger, the red robe sweated hard, regretting that he forgot the most critical remark. “Your Holiness, the live stream was not held in the town square like the case in the Aalto Music Festival, but it was held in all the four countries as well as part of the cities in the north coastline, which means that millions of people might’ve watched the music festival.”

“Super remote image transmission… Was it conducted through the artificial planets?” Benedict III naturally knew that the live stream that the red robe mentioned was not the broadcast that only had sound. Knowing arcana rather well, he remembered artificial planets immediately. Only they could satisfy such a need right now, unless the Congress of Magic deployed sound and image transmission circles without caring about the cost like the Church did in the past.

With his head lowered, the red robe said, “Yes. According to the night watchers, the Congress of Magic did use artificial planets as transfer stations.”

The middle-rank sorcerer who set up the “curtain” illuminated the “artificial planets” during the final debugging and created a rather bizarre view. It was unavoidable with their strength. Therefore, it was easy for the night watchers to conclude that the live stream of the music festival couldn’t have been conducted without “artificial planets”.

Benedict III became solemn. He picked up the emergent intelligence and read it carefully.

Worrying about the development of the Church, the red robe suggested boldly, “Your Holiness, although the magic circle for the live stream is not permanent or an alchemical item, it will certainly result in the vacillation of the believers in the four countries and the northern coastline. It is bad for our future attacks.”

Benedict III put down the report. His expression was as deep as an ocean. “The vacillation of the believers? The music festival was live-streamed in different cities simultaneously, with both sound and image, to both civilians and the nobles… This is of much greater significance than the pure shake of faith.”

“I am too idiotic to understand the hint of the Lord.” The red robe shivered in fear. He was so desperate to win the pope’s appreciation that he opened his mouth when he shouldn’t.

Benedict III nodded his head and continued, “Of course, for us, the greatest influence is truly the vacillation of believers. Sorcerers are corrupt people with extravagances and entertainment. The world is now full of filthy dirt. But that’s all the more reason why we should save every lamb who still has kindness in his heart.

“This will be a difficult and dangerous path, and every cleric must be prepared to sacrifice. Are you ready?”

Having been approved, the red robe was so excited that he drew a cross on his chest. “Only Truth lives forever!”

“Give my order. Summon the Grand Cardinals for an emergency meeting.” Benedict III sighed.

Half an hour later, all the Grand Cardinals except for those who were on missions gathered in the Bright Hall.

Before Benedict III brought out the platinum staff, they had already learned about the meeting from the red robe.

“Your Holiness, artificial planets are highly dangerous. We have to destroy them completely,” Melmax, the captain of the Temple Knights, offered a suggestion straightforwardly. He did not know much about arcana as the Grand Cardinals did, but he could see the hazard of artificial planets even more clearly as an observer. They had given eyes and wings to the sorcerers from the sky!

After the second artificial planet was launched, the Church had tried many ways of attack and counterattack. Their achievement was that two artificial planets were destroyed. However, after Lucien proposed the general theory of relativity, the Congress of Magic had been launching artificial planets every year, so such losses were affordable.

Saint Maria was a brown-haired girl, but she was at least three hundred years old. She suggested in a soft voice, “For the Congress of Magic, creating and launching artificial planets is not very difficult. Even if we shoot down one of them, they will only launch more in a few years.

“Also, the Congress of Magic is almost on par with us except for the lack of demigod. Can we afford a total war right now? The heretics in the north and the evil creatures in the Dark Mountain Range are looking forward to our mistakes.”

Astira, the Angel of Wind, continued, “The Congress of Magic couldn’t have neglected our reaction when they decided to live stream Lucien Evans’ ‘Valkyrie’, could they? This is perhaps another trap. They’re perhaps waiting for us to destroy the planets!”

“Then, what do we do? Can you launch similar items and resist the sorcerers ‘artificial planets’ with our ‘Godly Eye’?” Beliel was dissatisfied with their complaints. They needed a viable suggestion!

Philip, the newly-promoted Grand Cardinal, said, “It’s not our strong suit to directly create a similar item. However, we can try to capture an artificial planet. With enough time, we should be able to duplicate them. By then, with the grace of the Lord, the item we create will be more creative and destructive on the orbit than artificial planets!”

The past experience had suggested that divine power was more convenient than magic, because “God” was ubiquitous, even on the orbit. The sorcerers had to use the help of magic circles to utilize the power of gravity or solar energy, which reduced the aggressiveness of artificial planets.

That was why the Congress of Magic attached such importance to fission reactors and controllable fusion. If they could be minimized, the gap between magic and divine power in that regard would be no more.

“We need a complete and safe plan. We must not fall into the trap of the Congress of Magic.” Melmax acknowledged Philip’s opinion and became less radical.

“Alright, you’ve all shown your loyalty to the Lord.” Benedict III made the final decision and asked Maria, Melmax, and Philip to draft plans.

Ines, another Grand Cardinal, added, “However, we cannot slow down the destruction of artificial planets, or the whole sky will be consumed by artificial planets one day. We’ll never see the sun!”

Although it was a hilarious vision, every Grand Cardinal still gasped hard.

……

In San Ivansburg, Belkovsky and Romanov, the emperor of the Schachran Empire, both received the message from their spies. Then, they almost raised their heads and looked at the blue sky out of the window at the same time, as if they saw the artificial planets through the white clouds.

They did not have any doubt about the strategic significance of artificial planets, but they both sighed because they could not manufacture them. They wanted to capture one, but they feared that they would fall into a trap. They certainly could not afford a war against the Congress of Magic under the pressure of the South Church.

Therefore, they had to wait for an opportunity to capture one without causing a massive war, in which case the Congress of Magic could only swallow their anger because they also could not afford a war against them while resisting the South Church.

Inside the Dark Mountain Range, a luxury castle that was mostly made of gold stood next to a cliff.

A strange male leaned against the chair with a cigar on his mouth. Looking at his butler, he said, “What you said is very interesting. If only the live stream item of the Congress of Magic were smaller… In that case, I can have a lot of fun inside the castle. That’s the best invention for a vampire who is too lazy to go out like me.”

“Mr. Prince, even if you have such a thing, you would have to count on the Congress of Magic’s radio station if you want to see anything,” the butler replied solemnly.

“Rest assured. The Congress of Magic will certainly work on it now that they already achieved such a level. I can sponsor them if they lack resources. Isn’t Rhine very close to Lucien Evans? The old man can’t be angry at me if I sponsor through him.” The vampire prince waved his hands.

“I’m told that Mr. Observer went to the Temple of Spirits with the Primordial Ancestor,” the butler said something else.

After a brief silence, the vampire prince scoffed, “The old man will burst into fury again.”

……

Inside the Sky Radio Station in Allyn…

After the Rentato Music Festival was over, Lucien came to thank the arcanists who were responsible for the broadcast. Heidi, who was interested in “live stream”, arrived with him.

“Mr. Evans, this is our job, and you don’t need to thank us. However, the members of the audience have been sending us letters, asking us to keep the live stream going on in the future instead of only broadcasting sound. What should we do?” said Louise, upset.

Lucien smiled. “Prime Minister Russell, Duke James, and the other nobles expressed similar wishes, but it’s not a problem that can be solved with additional radios and loudspeakers. According to the current standard, the magic circles that can display images and receive signals permanently equal to a senior-rank item. Neither the Congress of Magic nor the kingdom can afford that.

“Therefore, we need time to complete and simplify the alchemical items. You may repeat my words to the audience. In the near future, they will not only be enjoying the live stream in the square but also at their homes.”

“In the near future?” Samantha asked in confusion. She couldn’t recall any studies in that aspect.

Lucien pointed at Heidi who was standing next to him. “Part of her studies on artificial intelligence can be directly applied to this, such as electronic tubes and monitors. Therefore, whether or not similar alchemical items can be produced depends on the efforts of her research team.”

“Mine?” Heidi pointed at her nose, lost. She was too dedicated to artificial intelligence to realize that it could also be applied to other aspects.

……

In Hamina, the capital of Dumute…

Katrina was walking on the crowded street. Most of the passersby were dwarfs who only reached her waist, but there were still plenty of merchants who came to do business. Therefore, she did not catch much attention.

“It’s not suitable at night. I should install the item that my teacher gave to me at night…” Looking at the pilgrims outside of the temple, Katrina made a judicious decision. Although she didn’t quite understand why her teacher asked her to do this, she still spared no efforts to see that it was done perfectly.