Chapter 649: Touching the Magic Web

"The Magic Web?"

Liszt, holding Acheronides, brightened instantly as his previous worries dissipated, replaced by sheer delight: "Connecting to the Magic Web—did Acheronides just connect to the Magic Web under the stimulation of the mermaids' tear? Jonas Moonvetch once said that for a great magician to advance to an Archmage, they must connect to the Magic Web!"

This confirmed the Smoke Mission wasn’t orchestrated by some shadowy figure—it was merely a manifestation of his own will.

Perhaps it was his subconscious urging, hoping Acheronides could advance to an Archmage, that led to the mission of this ruin map and subsequently obtaining the mermaids' tear.

At this thought, he sighed again: "I haven’t even managed to ride a dragon yet, and Acheronides is already advancing to an Archmage. Strictly speaking, she’s just a teenage girl... Honestly, her talent is unreal. Is, even as a siren, learned magic, but she only knows a few minor spells."

Brushing the azure strands of hair from Acheronides' face, Liszt continued using Magic Eye to observe the state of her magic power.

The invisible magic exchange suddenly made sense—it wasn’t an exchange with ambient magic but a connection to the unknown Magic Web, continuously tapping into its magic.

"If this is the case, an Archmage doesn’t draw magic from absorbing ambient magic but directly from the Magic Web. Does this mean that even on the battlefield, an Archmage can rely on the Magic Web to cast powerful spells?"

If true, magicians’ status would skyrocket to terrifying levels.

And it was highly likely, given that Archmages were said to go toe-to-toe with dragons, possessing top-tier combat power second only to Dragon Knights.

Any dragonless warrior class would likely be no match for an Archmage.

From what Liszt had observed of the world’s current power system, knights ruled the roost, while ancient warrior and mage legacies were in decline. Only magicians, though a bit sidelined, remained a mainstream and indispensable system.

Knights had Dragon Knights, and magicians had Archmages—both were top-tier roles that shaped their eras.

"Acheronides is on her way to becoming an Archmage. Connecting to the Magic Web once likely means she’s already connected to it, and I’m close to succeeding in riding a dragon... I hope the Milon Mind Fruit works and puts the Fire Drake Leo down in one shot!"

"Squeak~"

Rainbow Whale Rosi swam nearby, providing Liszt with the magic—Rainbow Gill Membrane. Acheronides didn’t need such assistance; even unconscious, she could breathe underwater instinctively. Seeing she wouldn’t wake soon, Liszt placed her inside the seashell.

While waiting for her to awaken, he resumed his earlier unfinished work.

The bone shovel easily dug through the mud.

The lower half of the six-armed woman statue closest to the main mermaid statue was finally exposed—not a human body but a massive, twisted form, somewhat resembling a mermaid’s tail yet also like a serpent’s body.

He continued digging around the four-armed woman statue, revealing a similar hybrid of serpent and fish tail. The two-armed woman statue was no different.

Next was the six-armed monster statue, its lower half the same but sporting vicious fins. The remaining statues needed no further digging—all shared this form. He skipped ahead to excavate a fish-monster statue, its lower half resembling an upright frog’s body.

Studying these statues, Liszt pondered for a moment.

Muttering to himself, he said, "These statues resemble the Naga from games. Let’s just call them Naga... The female upper-bodied Naga can be called Upper Naga, categorized by arms—two, four, or six. The monster upper-bodied Naga can be Lower Naga, also with two, four, or six arms."

Thus, the race represented by this Fish-Monster Temple became clear.

The rulers were mermaids, the middle tier comprised Upper and Lower Naga, and the bottom tier was the fish-monsters.

"The real question is whether mermaids, Naga, and fish-monsters even belong to the same species. Anatomically, they’d likely be reproductively incompatible. Perhaps this was a multi-species maritime society—mermaids as rulers, Upper Naga as nobles, Lower Naga as commoners, and fish-monsters as slaves?"

Unfortunately, aside from these statues and the shattered mermaids' tear, the Fish-Monster Temple offered no other clues to piece together its history.

"To record this civilization in *Dragons Battling in the Wilderness*, I’ll have to fill in the blanks myself." Liszt shook his head.

He now has too many planned works, and *Dragons Battling in the Wilderness* has long been shelved indefinitely. Perhaps only when he becomes the Lord of Dragon Domain one day and gains a greatly extended lifespan will he complete this grand historical work out of boredom.

Time ticks by.

Liszt eats some dry rations underwater.

By the time the outside of the Shrine of the Ugly Fish darkens, signaling the arrival of night, he is nearly losing patience and prepares to take Acheronides away along with the shell. Just then, the unconscious Acheronides suddenly calms the magic power inside her and slowly wakes up.

"Brother."

"You're awake. How do you feel? Any discomfort?"

Her dazed look quickly fades, her blue eyes growing even brighter and clearer: "Acheronides is fine, brother. I feel better than ever. Was I asleep just now? It felt like a long dream—in it, my thoughts turned into a shimmer of magic, swimming freely in an ocean of magic power."

Liszt asks eagerly, "Was that touching the Magic Web?"

Acheronides carefully recalls and nods firmly: "Yes, that was the sensation of touching the Magic Web, brother. Acheronides now understands why the mages of the Moon Empire era declined... With the help of the magic circle powered by mermaid tears, Acheronides briefly touched the Magic Web and felt its vastness. But it is shrinking—only an Archmage can access it now."

"Tell me more!"

"Mm." Acheronides begins describing in detail the Magic Web she touched.

According to her perception, the Magic Web is not literally a web. It is somewhat similar to the "field" Liszt once described, yet it still retains some network-like properties.

This web—or field—permeates the entire world, at least the parts Acheronides could sense, covering every aspect and corner of existence.

"If the Magic Web hadn't shrunk, every mage would be a node, freely casting spells by drawing from it. But because it has contracted, ordinary mages have lost their node status and can only absorb stray magic, while Archmages can still cast spells through the Magic Web."

"That explains it!" Liszt realizes.

Mages with the Magic Web's assistance clearly wouldn't fear a knight's charge. But with the Magic Web shrinking, ordinary mages are rendered ineffective, and a knight's charge easily creates so-called anti-magic zones.

Acheronides continues, "In Acheronides' recent experience, brother, you are like a small-scale Magic Web, possessing your own field and web. That's why knight training and fighting aren't constrained by the Magic Web. On the contrary, when many knights gather, their individual Magic Webs resonate, expanding its reach."

"So, is the Magic Web still shrinking?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean Archmages will eventually lose its assistance too?"

"Acheronides doesn't know, but at the current rate of contraction, it might take many millennia before the Magic Web abandons Archmages."

As Acheronides keeps explaining, Liszt gradually gains an intuitive understanding—perhaps the shrinking of the Magic Web is like magic's decline.