Chapter 120: Relax, It’s Just Forbidden Magic [Part 3]

Chapter 120. Relax, It’s Just Forbidden Magic [Part 3]

I stared at him.

Did these people think forbidden magic worked like some hungry monster that would suddenly jump out and devour the nearest unfortunate bastard?

Well, technically, certain forbidden spells could do that. But these weren’t among them. Probably not the most reassuring thought.

"Forbidden formations can’t be activated that easily," I explained, gesturing toward the intricate circles of dark violet runes. "They require specific conditions, including the right time, sufficient mana, and suitable sacrifices. You can’t just throw someone into the middle and expect a Dark Lord to pop out."

Lord Veymont looked marginally relieved.

Chief Marr, however, wasn’t convinced. "But you said the records didn’t mention what kind of sacrifices they needed."

"Didn’t mention doesn’t mean there aren’t any requirements."

I rotated one of the formations, studying the symbols arranged around its outer circumference. "Every sacrifice needs to fulfill certain conditions. Sometimes it’s bloodline, sometimes age, magical affinity, or spiritual characteristics. The requirements depend on what the ritual is supposed to accomplish." I glanced at the twelve documents scattered across the table. "And right now, I’m trying to identify which formation requires the kind of sacrifices our culprit has been collecting."

That finally made them quiet. At least nobody was attempting to escape through the windows anymore.

I returned my attention to the formations, dismissing the irrelevant ones as I compared their structures against the information I’d gathered.

Twelve brides. Twelve different birth months. Devoted followers of the Light Temple. The combination was unusual, but not impossible.

A ritual involving the annual cycle could explain the different months. Their religious affiliation might provide a particular spiritual resonance, while their approaching marriages represented a transition between two stages of life.

Transition. Change. A new beginning...

I slowly narrowed my eyes. "Something related to rebirth, perhaps..." One formation rotated past my face. I dismissed it. Another followed. "Or resurrection..."

No. The requirements didn’t match.

Resurrection formations generally focused on preserving a deceased individual’s soul or restoring a damaged vessel. Some required blood relatives, while others relied on powerful life-attributed sacrifices. But twelve brides representing a complete year? That suggested something different. Something involving the transition between one existence and another.

"Reincarnation..."

My fingers stopped moving. A particular formation hovered directly before me.

Its structure consisted of twelve outer circles surrounding a complicated central array. Several overlapping runes connected the outer positions to the middle, forming a spiral that appeared to fold inward endlessly.

I stared at it.

Wait... I knew this formation. Not merely from a book. I’d seen it before. My heart gave an unexpected thump. I remembered exactly where I’d learned it.

Rey Valen’s tomb. Not in this era. In my previous life, when I was still Evan Veyr.

I’d discovered the formation during my research into the Five Heroes and the Dark Lord’s downfall. It had been carved directly onto Rey Valen’s sealed coffin, hidden beneath several layers of ancient inscriptions. Nobody had understood what those markings meant.

Historians had dismissed them as funerary decorations. Other researchers assumed they were protective runes intended to prevent the Royal Magus’s cursed remains from contaminating the surrounding area.

The formation had been extremely complicated, and the original inscriptions were partially damaged. Still, I’d spent weeks reconstructing its structure. And eventually, I’d discovered its purpose.

A reincarnation formation. A ritual designed to guide a soul across the boundary between death and another existence. At the time, I’d considered it one of the most fascinating discoveries of my career.

Now? I was beginning to question whether my career had been one enormous cosmic joke. Because I was currently standing here as Rey Valen. Thousands of years before the tomb I’d studied even existed. The universe apparently had a very strange sense of humor.

I dismissed several more formations until only the familiar one remained.

My gaze followed its runes, tracing the complicated connections between the outer circles and the central array.

Something bothered me. I’d seen this formation somewhere else. Here. In this era.

But where?

I frowned, searching through my memories.

It hadn’t been carved into stone. Nor had it appeared in an ancient manuscript. The lines had been rougher. Messier.

I remembered the color. Dark red. Blood.

My breath caught.

Oh... Right. That day. The day I’d opened my eyes as Rey Valen.

The day Evan Veyr had awakened inside the body of a man who should have existed thousands of years before him. There had been a magical formation beneath me.

A formation drawn in blood. And Ariel had been lying at its center.

My fingers slowly curled.

How had I overlooked that?

Well, perhaps because I’d been busy dealing with the minor inconvenience of suddenly waking up in another era, inheriting a cursed body, and discovering that my new identity was a historical madman famous for sacrificing his wives.

A perfectly reasonable distraction.

But now that I thought about it... The formation had been familiar. Its arrangement had been cruder, with several altered pathways and additional symbols surrounding the central circle. But the underlying structure? The same.

The realization sent a cold sensation down my spine.

My reincarnation hadn’t necessarily been a coincidence. I’d had a feeling something was fishy about my reincarnation from the start. Especially when I realized my soul and Rey’s had way too much in common.

This was something tangible.

A connection between the formation on Rey’s coffin in the future and the blood ritual I’d awakened inside in the past.

And Ariel...

My expression darkened. I remembered her lying helplessly at the center of that formation. Ariel possessed a rare healing bloodline, one powerful enough to make her an exceptionally valuable offering for certain forbidden rituals.

One powerful sacrifice. Perhaps powerful enough to replace an entire collection of lesser offerings.

I looked toward the twelve records. Now I understood why this particular formation had caught my attention. If the culprit couldn’t obtain someone possessing a rare, powerful bloodline, they might attempt to compensate through quantity and symbolic compatibility.

It was still only a hypothesis.

But it was a disturbingly plausible one.

Another question had begun scratching at the back of my mind.

Who carved the reincarnation formation onto Rey Valen’s coffin?

Rey couldn’t have done it himself. At least, not after his death. And the markings had been engraved directly onto the sealed coffin, beneath inscriptions that suggested someone had deliberately concealed their purpose. Someone who understood forbidden reincarnation magic. Someone who might have wanted Rey Valen to return.

But why?

Was it connected to my reincarnation?

Had someone deliberately arranged for Evan Veyr to awaken as Rey? And if so... Who?

My thoughts immediately turned toward King Aldric.

Could he have been involved?

He knew considerably more about Rey than most people. He’d supported him despite the rumors, trusted him with secret assignments, and maintained a relationship that seemed unusually complicated for a king and his Royal Magus.

But that wasn’t evidence. Not even close. I had no reason to accuse him of something this ridiculous.

Besides, the tomb I’d discovered existed thousands of years in the future.

The timeline alone was enough to give me a headache.

Damn it! I wanted answers. No, I needed answers.

The researcher inside me was practically clawing at my skull, demanding that I abandon everything and start investigating the connection immediately.

Unfortunately, twelve women were still missing. And unlike my personal reincarnation mystery, their situation might have a very unpleasant deadline.

I exhaled slowly. Not now. I could investigate my own existence later. Preferably after saving the women. And perhaps after returning home to my wives, where I could bury my face against Ariel’s soft chest and pretend the universe wasn’t personally conspiring to drive me insane. That sounded wonderful.

I focused on the formation again.

What else did it require?

Sacrifices weren’t enough. Reincarnation involved guiding a soul through a transition between existence and death. Such a process required an enormous amount of energy and a stable spiritual connection. And timing.

There had to be something about the timing.

I searched through my memories of the formation’s original inscriptions. Celestial positions. The annual cycle. Moonlight?

Hmm...

A full moon? Or perhaps a dead moon?

Both were associated with different forbidden rituals. The full moon was commonly used for amplification and spiritual manifestation, while the new moon could be associated with concealment, severance, and transitions through darkness.

Which one?

I frowned harder.

Come on! Think!

Then another memory surfaced. Not Evan’s. Rey’s. A fragment from the day he’d prepared the ritual. The blood formation. The chamber. Ariel. The timing.

He’d chosen that day because the stars were aligned. Not merely because the necessary materials were available. He’d been waiting for a particular celestial condition.

My eyes widened slightly. If the formation required a specific alignment, the birth months might represent the annual cycle while the moon determined the actual moment of activation.

And if the culprit had already collected all twelve women... Then the ritual might be approaching its final stage.

I mentally reconstructed the formation’s activation sequence.

"Full moon..." I muttered.

Lord Veymont shifted in his chair. "Pardon, my lord?"

I examined the remaining formation, following the outermost runes until I reached a particular symbol I’d previously interpreted as a celestial convergence marker. But enough to make my suspicion considerably stronger.

"Full moon," I stated. I lowered my hand. The dark violet formation dissolved into countless tiny particles before disappearing completely.

The room immediately felt less oppressive.

Lord Veymont and Chief Marr visibly relaxed.

I turned toward them. "I think the ritual might take place during the full moon."

Chief Marr frowned. "The full moon?"

"Yes. The twelve birth months could represent a complete annual cycle, while the moon determines when that cycle is activated. If this is the formation I suspect, the culprit might be waiting for a particular celestial alignment."

I tapped the documents.

"And since all twelve women have already been collected, there’s a chance they’re preparing to activate it soon."

Lord Veymont’s expression changed. I noticed his fingers tighten against the edge of the table. "Lord Valen..." He swallowed. "The full moon... That’s tonight."