Chapter 724: This Is an Unlawful Command, and I Shall Not Obey It!
Witch Georgina's sudden bold move had caught quite a few spectators and judges somewhat off guard. But when they thought it through, they felt it was only natural.
Because for Witch Georgina, who was set on firing the first shot for the new textile studies, Locke was her greatest enemy. At this moment, her Grand Magic was dependent on the realm.
And although Locke had previously said the realm was public, he had already demonstrated that the gateway was his alone to control, and she had absolutely no way of knowing how many more follow-up moves he had.
So after preparing herself, with no other option left, she had no choice but to make a bold direct move against Locke.
If she had not been prepared, she would absolutely not have moved. Because if Locke retaliated, it would very likely result in her immediate elimination. So this attack carried with it the resolve to kill in a single strike.
In the flash between lightning and thunder, Locke and Witch Georgina beneath her wooden mask exchanged a glance. Her eyes were serious and resolute, filled with boundless conviction. Those eyes were like a sharp blade.
And she herself was like a sharp blade drawn out by the new textile studies. At this moment her magic pressure had reached its absolute limit.
The sun ring magical weaver from Bonifacius University who saw this scene immediately curved the corner of his mouth. "Georgina, only you, with both parents being black wizards, are the most suitable person to fire this first shot. We chose correctly after all."
"Although Locke Augustus is indeed a very excellent breeder, what he is facing is the collective wisdom of the many wizards behind our new textile studies."
In the Silent Plane, Locke only felt that after he raised his magic pressure to the limit, that magic pressure suddenly began to fluctuate. It would hold steady at 16,000 for a moment, then drop to just over 10,000, then reach 13,000.
Because the magic pressure fluctuations were so severe, the spell models on his body began to distort and warp.
The Flow Arrow Climbing Fern in his hand was trembling continuously because of his unstable magic pressure, and the water flow was constantly changing.
Locke turned to look behind him and found that his Moon of Evolution in the sky above was flickering in and out, its magic pressure completely unstable.
He looked ahead and saw the Fate Loom descending before him. Eight pieces of woven fabric stood upright and revolved around him, while those pieces spread across the ground and unfurled toward his feet.
And the patterns on those pieces of fabric were all full moons.
But they were not ordinary full moons. The first piece had some thread produced from abyssal creatures woven into it, resembling a moon tainted by abyssal energy. The second piece had a little more.
The third had even more.
The fifth piece seemed almost completely submerged in the abyss, and the eighth piece showed the entire full moon completely swallowed by the abyss.
The entire full moon had become an Abyss Moon.
These eight fate-woven pieces revolved around Locke, as though the heavenly phases had undergone drastic changes. At this moment, the Moon of Evolution was burdened by the heavenly phases. With the Abyss Moon hanging high, it affected the Moon of Evolution and caused it to continuously cycle between the phases of the Abyss Moon and the Moon of Evolution.
The Moon of Evolution was Locke's Grand Magic, which was his magical source.
At this moment, with the Moon of Evolution destabilized, his magic pressure was naturally also destabilized, fluctuating up and down, like a candle flame in the wind.
Locke immediately perceived the troublesome nature of the new textile studies. The other party seemed to be indirectly interfering with fate through the existence spirituality network and using the inventory system of her network to brute-force a reverse analysis of the Moon of Evolution's flaws, searching again and again for its weakness.
And she had found it.
The Moon of Evolution was very similar to the moon plane, so the Moon of Evolution would certainly also be susceptible to interference from the heavenly phases.
At this moment, she used thread made from abyssal materials to create eight pieces of fabric depicting an Abyss Moon, intending to use the Abyss Moon to interfere with Locke's Moon of Evolution.
A golden weaving needle pierced toward Locke, attempting to weave the existence spirituality on his body's surface and use the window of instability in Locke's magic pressure to stitch the Prisoner of Fate Cloak onto him.
Locke swung the Second Circle climbing fern in his hand, Second Circle magic, Standing Alone Against the Many.
In an instant, a stream of water arrows shot out at high speed and clashed with that golden weaving needle.
After the golden weaving needle was knocked aside, what appeared behind it was over a hundred weaving needles.
But when Locke swung, what appeared was also not a single water current arrow. Instead, using Standing Alone Against the Many to command the Second Circle climbing fern, and leveraging the home field advantage of the Fallen Rain Realm at this moment, the extraordinary water control capability produced countless water current arrows.
Witch Georgina paused, clearly not having expected that with his magic pressure so severely disrupted by the heavenly phase issue, Locke could still unleash this powerful a spell.
Where was the problem?
Countless water current arrows clashed with over a hundred golden weaving needles.
Witch Georgina curled the fingers of her right hand, and a golden flying shuttle flew toward Locke. At this moment, the existence spirituality threads of the environment around Locke appeared one by one, surrounding him and forming a special thread web. Witch Georgina then used this shuttle to enclose it all.
"I was never attacking you directly from the start."
"Fate Triple-Shuttle Weaving Method!"
"Prisoner of Fate Cloak!"
She worked the shuttle and recited the spell, with weaving needles darting in all directions. In a brief moment, she had woven the existence spirituality of Locke's surrounding environment into half a cloak. It appeared she intended to forcibly drape the garment she was weaving onto Locke's body.
Georgina's normal magic pressure was 12,000. But because of the deaths of Edgar and Wizard Smith earlier, and by using the Second Circle weaving spell Prisoner of Fate Cloak infused with a Grand Magic Rune in combination with the second transformation produced within the Grand Magic by the Prisoner of Fate Cloak, the Wandering Judge's Robe of Judgment, her magic pressure had temporarily risen to 13,000.
This meant she could possess two Grand Magic Runes.
Additionally, the Fate Loom's special design meant that because she was using a special Second Circle magical artifact, it came with one Grand Magic Rune built in. This meant she could possess three Grand Magic Runes in total.
Witch Georgina had prepared extensively for this competition, had learned many Second Circle spells, and in this regard had worked even harder than both Locke and Edgar, mastering more Second Circle spells.
She had therefore, while entangled with the Rain Mantises in the realm, taken that time to incorporate two Grand Magic Runes into two of her Second Circle spells.
One spell was named: Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt.
The other was named: Mountains and Rivers Split Silk.
At this moment, she had designed and woven eight pieces of fabric for Locke, embroidering the pattern of an Abyss Moon on each, disturbing the heavenly phase of his Moon of Evolution. This was the new textile studies magic, Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt.
It was a spell specially designed for this competition by a Third Circle wizard.
Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt could use the Fate Loom's fate inventory network to brute-force a reverse deduction of the opponent's Grand Magic's flaws and weaknesses, then make these weaknesses and flaws temporarily manifest within the opponent's Grand Magic and other magic through woven works.
In other words, under Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt, the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of any magic would be exposed.
And now, Witch Georgina gently tugged her left hand, and the Prisoner of Fate Cloak that had been enveloping Locke's surroundings swept toward his body.
Locke responded calmly, swinging the climbing fern in his hand. In an instant, using the botanical spell Standing Alone Against the Many, a stream of water current arrows flew out, enhanced to an inconceivable degree under the Fallen Rain Realm environment, and struck against that half-formed Prisoner of Fate Cloak, tearing it apart or at least knocking it away.
The other party clearly intended to first drape this half-garment over him, further reducing his magic pressure and disrupting his state. Then she would use the Fate Loom to weave the remaining half of the prison garment from his own existence spirituality.
Once that happened, no matter how great his abilities, he would be imprisoned by this small piece of clothing.
When fortune favors, heaven and earth move in accord. When fortune departs, heroes lose their freedom.
Using the small to challenge the great, using the weak to overcome the strong, using skill to overcome brute force.
This was the classic style of Cloud Marsh Wetlands spellcasting.
Witch Georgina was worthy of being a native Cloud Marsh Wetlands wizard.
Witch Georgina watched as Locke, even at this point, was still able to resist with such powerful magic, and a flash of admiration passed through her eyes.
Only...
At this very moment, she had to win this competition for the sake of the new textile studies.
And once a powerful wizard fell into a trap meticulously woven by the new textile studies, not even the most powerful wizard using the most powerful magic could break free.
In the next instant, Witch Georgina suddenly reached out and seized one of the eight pieces of fabric embroidered with the Abyss Moon. Using a pair of scissors from the Fate Loom, she suddenly cut it in half.
Second Circle new textile studies spell, Mountains and Rivers Split Silk.
A sharp tearing sound rang out. This entire piece of fabric was suddenly severed, and immediately after, with the Moon of Evolution whose spirituality had already been connected to this piece of fabric now also suffering a sudden further collapse in magic pressure, it fell below 10,000 for the first time.
Mountains and Rivers Split Silk was likewise a Second Circle new textile studies spell specially designed for the Fate Loom by a Third Circle Throne-level wizard from Bonifacius University for this exact competition.
The Mountains and Rivers Split Silk Curse could, through the Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse, connect the spirituality of the opponent's Grand Magic, then suddenly tear apart a piece of woven fabric whose spirituality was already connected to it, simulating the fate of the opponent being cut in half.
In a single instant, the opponent's magic pressure upper limit was halved.
Although this could only be maintained for roughly three seconds, in this one moment Locke's magic pressure should plummet to 5,000, a level even lower than a First Circle wizard in the liquefaction stage.
Of course, when using this entire set of Second Circle spells, the Fate Loom was continuously operating, and all the Second Circle spells depended on the Fate Loom's operation.
In essence, were it not for the fortune contributed by both Edgar and Wizard Smith's deaths, she would not even have had sufficient ability to pay the Fate Loom's consumption at this moment.
At this moment, the Fate Loom ran at full capacity. The energy dissipation rate rose with the turbulent magic pressure, causing it to radiate golden light in all directions.
Like a divine city of fate descending, with fate turbulence appearing around the city, fate knot after fate knot emerged, causing the fate knots of this world to multiply and grow increasingly tangled.
Witch Georgina's eyes were full of absolute resolution. She would resolve Locke in a single move, then use the fortune produced by the Prisoner of Fate Cloak worn on Locke at the moment of his death to instantly restore her magic pressure and replenish all the flowing capital within the Fate Loom.
The fall of the current world's most powerful would bring her sufficient fortune.
Witch Georgina watched the embroidered fabric depicting the Abyss Moon fall in two pieces to the ground, and felt that the Locke before her truly had only 5,000 magic pressure remaining. In an instant, she curved the corner of her mouth.
This way, Locke would not have enough magical power to resist.
All she needed to do now was crook her finger and drape the Prisoner of Fate Cloak over Locke's body. Then she would win.
Witch Georgina said, "I am sorry, Locke. No matter how powerful you may be, you cannot escape the soft, yielding thread and the gentle knife of my new textile studies. You have fallen into my trap. My Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse has disrupted the lunar phase of your Moon of Evolution, and my Mountains and Rivers Split Silk Curse has reduced your magic pressure ceiling. At this moment, you have been defeated."
"Both my Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse and my Mountains and Rivers Split Silk Curse were personally designed by a Throne-level wizard!"
"The new textile studies stands above your breeding studies and botanical studies!"
Locke looked back at his dim and fading moon in the sky. Then, holding the climbing fern, he suddenly curved the corner of his mouth. At the same time, a Second Circle spell model appeared behind him.
Locke looked toward Witch Georgina and said, "I have heard that Cloud Embroidery is quite famous. So to specifically experience the Cloud Embroidery of your Bonifacius University and the Rose Council from the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, I deliberately let you complete your entire set of spells."
"Having seen it today, it is indeed impressive. Very beautiful. I quite enjoy it."
The eyes beneath Witch Georgina's wooden mask widened.
"You..."
In the next instant, Locke's Moon of Evolution transformed from a full moon into a crescent moon. And the climbing fern in his hand also automatically changed from its original crystal crown spiral staircase form into a plant with heart-shaped leaves.
Second Circle botanical magic, Alternation of Generations.
Nothing particularly remarkable. Not something specially designed by any Third Circle Throne-level wizard. Just a comparatively classic botanical spell, the core spell of the Orah Ecology Curse.
Many botanical wizards knew this technique.
The effect of this spell was to use the two independent individuals of a fern plant, the sporophyte and the gametophyte, to force a fern plant to switch between its sporophyte and gametophyte forms.
If the sporophyte and gametophyte of this fern plant had two completely different attributes, then after one transformation, when using a spell once more, the magic pressure would be enhanced by 50%.
This spell was a very ordinary Second Circle botanical support spell, yet it was the core of the Orah Ecology Curse and was also the stroke of inspiration that now completed the Moon of Evolution at this moment.
At this moment, as a fern magical plant, the climbing fern's gametophyte and sporophyte also did not possess particularly opposing attributes. The adult magical plant was the sporophyte, and during reproduction, the spores would grow into the gametophyte, which was only an ordinary heart-shaped grass.
But the key issue was that when this Alternation of Generations spell was used in combination with the Moon of Evolution, it would cause the lunar phase of the Moon of Evolution to change.
The full moon represented the sporophyte, while the crescent represented the climbing fern having transformed into its gametophyte.
At this moment, floating in Locke's palm was a gametophyte heart-shaped leaf of the climbing fern, roughly the size of an infant's fist.
And the Moon of Evolution behind Locke had also transformed from a full moon into a crescent.
This produced two consequences that were gravely significant for Witch Georgina.
The first: the Moon of Evolution had transformed from a full moon into a crescent. This caused the lunar phase to change. The Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse had no effect on the Moon of Evolution anymore.
Because the Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse's brute-force analysis had targeted the full moon, not the crescent.
Now that the Moon of Evolution had transformed from a full moon into a crescent, the previous disruption of the heavenly phase by the Abyss Moon amounted to...
This is an unlawful command, and I shall not obey it.
The second: with the Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse no longer working, the chained Mountains and Rivers Split Silk Curse also ceased to function.
So Locke's magic pressure instantly recovered to 16,000, returning to its peak in a single moment.
At the same time, he took out two ordinary climbing fern tree ferns from his star realm ring. The moonlight of the Moon of Evolution immediately shone down on them, and together with the Type 2 Tyrant Element, the cell combination compound, and the Zero Potion, it injected all of it into them, temporarily strengthening them into Tyrant Climbing Fern Tree Ferns and activating their temporary Planar Information Reverse Flooding state, momentarily strengthening them.
The two Tyrant Climbing Fern Tree Ferns were enveloped in Mist Force, then intertwined with each other and transformed into a spear, the Tyrant Fern Spear.
Although these were all First Circle spells and First Circle magical plants, under the enhancement of the Moon of Evolution they were also strengthened to an inconceivable level.
The Tyrant Fern Spear directly pinned away the half-formed Prisoner of Fate Cloak, then spun around Locke once and, like stringing window curtains on a rod, gathered up the remaining seven pieces of fabric and collected them all.
The instant the Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse was lifted, Locke also immediately cancelled his own Alternation of Generations curse.
Although the way he had used the Alternation of Generations curse was not its intended use, and he had originally had a different follow-up combination in mind, there was no need to bring it out at this moment. This application had already been more than sufficient to counter every move in Witch Georgina's combination.
Locke held the gilded fern spear in hand and recited the Standing Alone Against the Many spell.
Witch Georgina, seeing this sudden reversal, went pale. She had not expected that even under the combination of the Heavenly Garment Nimbus Hunt Curse, Mountains and Rivers Split Silk Curse, Prisoner of Fate Cloak Curse, and the Fate Loom's chain attacks, Locke had still been able to find a solution and used a botanical magic to completely escape the disadvantage.
In truth, Locke's situation at that time had genuinely been very dangerous. If he had not found a way out in time, he truly could have fallen right there.
But Locke had escaped through his understanding of botanical magic and ecology magic.
A Second Circle fern spear came shooting toward her.
Locke said, "In truth, whether a spell model was designed by a high-circle wizard really does not matter much. As long as it is used well, as long as the spell model is sufficiently ingenious, that is enough."
"My teacher designed no spells specifically for me. She only introduced me to the Alternation of Generations and Lunar Blessing Curse that Second Circle botanical wizards once loved most, along with some other spells, and recommended them for my study. She simply let me study them."
"Your embroidered Cloud Embroidery is beautiful. I hope that after I win against you this time, when I come to you to buy some, you will not refuse me."
In the next instant, the Second Circle fern spear drove toward Witch Georgina's chest.
At this moment, Witch Georgina's Fate Loom had been fully utilized, and all three Grand Magic-Rune-infused spells had been used.
At this moment, facing that fern spear, her pupils suddenly contracted. In the next instant, she recited a spell and pulled her right hand back. The shoulder portions of the garments worn by the vast number of ordinary people who formed the Fate Loom all suddenly developed a thread.
She pulled forcefully, and in an instant those garments flew apart and rapidly assembled into a garment on her body.
This garment was a wizard robe resembling a patchwork creation, covered in square patches of every color.
This was the Prisoner of Fate series magical garment, the second piece, the Ten Thousand Fates Robe.
Witch Georgina invoked this magic at the moment of life and death. This was her final trump card.
Because her innate fate was special, bearing a unique connection to the Fate Loom, thanks to her special innate fate, as long as her Grand Magic was the Fate Loom, she would naturally possess one additional Grand Magic Rune compared to others.
This was the reason the high-circle wizards of the new textile studies had originally selected her.
Witch Georgina's natal constellation was Vega. So her study of the Fate Loom would give her one additional Grand Magic Rune through Star Force Resonance.
And this was also her final trump card.
At this moment, the Fate Loom ran at its absolute maximum. Quite a few parts flew off in pieces, and the entire loom began to blaze with light and heat, like a sun about to explode at any moment.
At the same time, on the three golden stools of the Fate Loom, three Vega star maidens descended one by one, their slender fingers descending to make a final effort for Witch Georgina's Fate Loom.
The spectators exclaimed in astonishment. Even now, Witch Georgina still had a trump card.
She was actually able, at only 12,000 magic pressure, to stack various special conditions and accumulated conditions to obtain four Grand Magic Runes.
Under normal circumstances, a wizard at this stage could only possess one Grand Magic Rune.
The academic level of Bonifacius University was beyond imagination, and the level of the new textile studies' magic had left everyone with eyes wide open.
In the Silent Plane, at this very moment, Witch Georgina was gripping the Second Circle fern spear that had driven into her chest, flying backward continuously.
A full moon descended before her.
Witch Georgina's pupils suddenly contracted. Locke's magic pressure was 16,000, while at this moment she had gradually fallen back to her normal 12,000 because she had consumed all the previously stacked fortune.
There was already a vast gap between the two in magic pressure to begin with, and on top of that, new textile studies wizards were not skilled in direct combat.
At this moment she had already fallen into an absolutely inferior position.
Locke activated the Moon of Evolution and used the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow. The evolutionary light fell like a cannonball and entered the Second Circle fern spear. In an instant, the climbing fern was briefly enhanced.
That Second Circle fern spear transformed into a water arrow and directly pierced through the Ten Thousand Fates Robe on her body. The Ten Thousand Fates Robe was only a defensive magical garment formed from borrowing the fate of ordinary people. Nothing more.
After the water arrow pierced through her chest, it continued with undiminished momentum and, like an arrow loosed from the bow, pierced through the Fate Loom behind her, which was already on the verge of collapse from overloading.
In the next instant, the Fate Loom exploded, transforming into an enormous fireball in mid-air.
A fern spear flew out from the fireball in reverse, transformed back into a crystal crown spiral staircase, and fell into Locke's hand.
A full moon hung behind Locke.
Illuminating the dark night.
The second eliminated competitor appeared.
The many layers of traps of the new textile studies had ultimately been torn to shreds by his Moon of Evolution and utterly destroyed by the Second Circle fern spear evolved through his Lunar Cultivation Method.
At this moment, the sky of the Silent Plane suddenly seemed to collapse inward, as though a celestial river had reversed course, and massive amounts of water fell directly from the sky.
The apocalypse had descended.
Locke was not surprised by this. Nor were the spectators.
Because in every past competition, toward its conclusion, Disc Creature Omega would infect the living beings of that plane at an unstoppable speed, then forcibly descend and bring about the apocalypse at a pace that left no time to react.
And Witch Georgina's Fate Loom self-destructing had added a large number of fate knots to that plane, weakening the Silent Plane. That was one factor.
The second was that her Grand Magic's disappearance caused the Silent Plane to weaken further.
The combination of both factors had caused Omega to descend the apocalypse upon the Silent Plane right at this moment, impatiently.
The apocalypse had descended.
Which meant the competition had entered its final countdown.
Even the spectators had begun rising from their seats, preparing for the competition's conclusion, waiting for the champion to be announced.
The champion would emerge after the Silent Plane's destruction.
Golden Crown Mountain's team leader, Wizard Chad, rubbed his chin with a smile. "I never expected Locke to push things this far. Just now, that combination from the new textile studies Grand Magic genuinely made me think Locke was about to be eliminated. Who would have thought he could extricate himself using such an old but classic spell? His sharpness in recognizing spell combinations is truly remarkable."
"This demonstrates that his understanding of botanical magic has already reached a very deep level."
"And that special breeding method seems to be more than simply what it appeared. The combat power of that magical plant was several times higher than what I calculated. That special breeding method is more than just the staggering evolution speed alone."