Capítulo 1317: Chapter 1317: Power of the Witch of the Earth
“Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, Rain-Praying Statue!”
Miss Benanis reacted more quickly than Bizard and Luviya in recognizing what this was. Luviya immediately understood and swiftly explained to Shard, who was unaware of this kind of relic:
“This used to be an inexplicable mysterious phenomenon. When rain was imminent, in an unnoticed corner where rain was about to fall, such statues would appear. These are early legends of the Fifth Era, later spread throughout the Material World. Consequently, some people who desire rain would actively carve statues with this form to achieve rain-praying. No one can clarify whether it’s a paradoxical centuries-long prayer or merely coincidence that, by the Sixth Era, made these statues relics with the trait that their appearance invariably brings torrential rain or snowstorm.”
“A relic doesn’t refer to a single statue but the entire category of such statues. They appear in concealed corners of lakes or rivers, and if not timely discovered and properly contained, can cause disastrous rainfall. Aside from containment, smashing them also ends their effect, and smashing does not destroy the relic; the Rain-Prayer Golem is merely temporarily expelled from the Material World. Fortunately, the rainwater induced by these statues matches the liquid environment they inhabit, therefore only requiring investigation…”
Miss Benanis widened her eyes:
“So that’s how it is, the appearance of this statue is to spread the contaminated mud!”
“How extensive is the relic’s impact?”
Shard inquired.
“The range of influence is as large as the statue itself. It’s winter now, it’s likely going to be a heavy snowstorm!”
Luviya looked rather solemnly at the giant statue:
“In the data I’ve seen, never has such a large statue appeared. Typically, such statues are about the size of a palm, just enough to cover the urban area of a city like Randall Valley. Based on preliminary estimates of this golem’s size, Randall Valley and the surrounding areas will be affected.”
And once the black mud contacts normal land, it will quickly transform into Crazy Earth, the black mud being a frightening pollution source.
Since Miss Benanis and Luviya recognized what this was, the Circle Sorcerers in the camp opposite the lake naturally recognized it too. After a brief reaction and judgment, the ritual originally intended to purify the Mad Earth was halted, and a ritual to seal and contain the relic was swiftly prepared.
Purifying the land under this big lake would take at least a night, but containing the relic, if prepared quickly, would take half an hour to an hour. It’s impossible to shatter such a massive golem; its size determines its strength. Although the “Rain-Prayer Golem” is more fragile and easier to damage than most relics, it is still a relic.
“Even cultists who worship the Stone Heart Demon can absolutely not know how to summon such a statue; they don’t possess the calling capability. The guild once researched whether the appearance of these statues complies with fate. So even without cultists, such things are bound to happen here.”
Luviya continued analyzing, and the sky was already falling tiny snowflakes. These fine snowflakes, containing black mud not much yet, will soon lead to catastrophic consequences; this is a true disaster.
Besides containing the relic and damaging itself, removing this giant Rain-Prayer Golem from Eldron Lake is an effective means to prevent undesirable events. The Church’s circle sorcerers evidently thought of this too; however, with the appearance of that giant statue, the effects of Crazy Earth seemed amplified, causing high-ring sorcerers to be influenced immediately upon entering the lake area, and spellcasting directly from the lakeshore onto the lake water saw sharply diminished effect.
The petrifying trait of Crazy Earth directly affecting souls exactly greatly impacts sorcerers’ spellcasting, so even charging through the pollution forward won’t work.
The divine ritual’s glow brightened the night, making it almost as bright as day. Shard squinted upward and faintly saw a figure holding a long staff above the camp, swinging it at the giant statue.
With a piercing scream nearly tearing the eardrums, the translucent golden wooden staff struck the statue’s head, but nothing occurred. Only the dark lake water, floating with shattered ice, began rippling again, indicating the Church’s attempt to directly solve this golem also failed.
The Church’s camp temporarily hasn’t thought of any means, forced to prepare the containment ritual, request aid from the city church, and continue trying to freeze the large lake. If the Rain-Prayer Golem contacts normal lake water, even a local three-day blizzard would not be an issue.
“So, under such circumstances, the ‘Power of the Earth’ is needed to resolve the trouble.”
Miss Benanis said, her beautiful blonde hair quickly stained white by snowflakes in mere moments. She didn’t refer to Shard’s “Power of the Earth: Healing Aura”; Eldron Lake’s area is too large to be completely purified even if Shard drank all the essence from the pink bottle.
Moreover, with that Rain-Praying Statue now present, the existence of the relic greatly reduces the effect of the “Healing Aura.”
“The Realm of Abundance can’t solve the current situation either.”
Luviya said, while the witch slightly raised her head to look at the golem in the lake, showing a confident expression:
“So this time, I’ll handle the problem. The [Power of the Earth: Summon Statue] which you obtained from the Stonemason Guild, I have already mastered it, and it’s indeed the Arcane Technique best suited for me.”
Saying this, she took out a small statue from the pocket of her robe. It was just an ordinary statue, like the kind sold at souvenir shops, used as a Spellcasting Material for the Arcane Technique:
“Shard, Luviya, I want to show you what it looks like when an Eleven-Ring Grand Witch fully applies the earth’s Arcane Technique. After tonight, no one can say that I’m not good at combat anymore.”
With that, she asked Shard and Luviya to step back, and with some reluctance, she plucked a strand of her own long hair, wrapped it around the small statue, and then forcefully tossed it into the black lake water dotted with floating ice—
Splosh!
The water surface rippled gently, the witch raised both hands to her chest, fingers slightly apart, ten fingers touching in sequence, but palms not meeting, then she closed her eyes.
Intense steam mist appeared in the snow, the rotating Eleven-Ring Life Ring highlighting the Grand Witch’s power. The Core Spirit Rune [Earth], Miracle Soul Rune [Prayer], Whisper Rune [Statue], and Desecration Spirit Rune [Manipulation], Shard was unsure of the original runes and spellcasting methods needed for [Power of the Earth: Summon Statue], but it seemed that the Witch of the Earth, based on her knowledge, caused the Arcane Technique to morph to meet her needs.
The rapidly spinning Life Ring projected the Four-Color Aura to the statue wrapped with the witch’s hair sinking into the water. In that glimmer, the lake water actually started bubbling, and then the water itself began to glow, gradually sketching a huge luminous pentagram pattern on the water surface, and around the pentagram, the Holy Emblems of the Ancient God [Earth Mother Goddess] and the Ancient God [Chaos Witch] appeared respectively.
Shard originally thought that the mutation of the “Power of the Earth” in his hands was big enough, but it seems he somewhat underestimated the witch.
Along with Miss Vanessa Benanis’s gentle incantation, the ground began to tremble slightly. Her spell words resembled a song, not loud, but unexpectedly stable, and spread very far.
The luminous pentagram Ritual Circle gradually covered one-fifth of the surface of Eldron Lake, and even the Circle Sorcerers on the opposite shore of the lake noticed this extraordinary scene:
“Power of the Earth: Summon Statue!”
A giant rock hand formed a fist and punched toward the sky from the glowing pentagram Ritual Circle. Then, the hand pressed onto the water surface, and using the force, the entire body emerged from the pentagram base formation.
The giant rock statue was summoned by Miss Vanessa Benanis in this way, although its legs were submerged in the lake water, the gigantic body could still be seen by everyone. In the increasingly violent swirling snow, the giant statue, even standing silently, gave a feeling of overwhelming awe.
“Truly remarkable!”
Shard praised from behind her. Even if Shard himself had learned this Arcane Technique, he could only summon a statue the size of a person. Even if he reached the Eleven Rings, he couldn’t make the technique as effective as it was before him. With Miss Benanis managing to do this within just a week of acquiring the Arcane Technique, she thoroughly deserved her title as the Witch of the Earth in the [Witch Council].
The statue before them wasn’t just gigantic; size holds little meaning in battles between High Ring Sorcerers. Shard could sense that the immense power of the earth was gathering on the summoned statue.
The Blonde Witch’s beautiful face was now revealed with extreme excitement and exhilaration. She pointed towards the dark Rain-Prayer Golem in the center of Eldron Lake. Without uttering a command, the statue summoned by the witch strode directly toward the other statue in the center of the lake.
Both figures were roughly the same size, with Miss Benanis’s statue being even taller. The curse in the lakebed’s mud couldn’t affect the statue called by the “Power of the Earth.”
However, as Miss Benanis commanded her summoned entity in the snowstorm, attempting to remove the Rain-Prayer Golem from the lake, the previously motionless dark golem’s right arm suddenly started trembling.
“Hmm? This relic can still move?”
The golem’s right hand grabbed the frozen black mud ice pillar beside it, and like throwing a javelin, directly pierced through the chest of the witch’s statue.