April 9, 1669.
Four hundred meters beneath Jialesi, in the Red Well Abyss—abandoned a thousand years ago—inside the Star Bridge Hall, known as the transit hub of the six nations, Victorique Eunol sat on a high stone beam, drinking.
You had likely never heard her name, but her other moniker was known to every soul in Jialesi—the Painter.
As the principal of Sword Flower University, she specialized in the long-lost ancient sorcery school of Painting and was hailed as the foremost genius sorcerer of the contemporary era. Her renown far surpassed that of the royal legend "Night King," the Scepter of Faith "Pope," the Principal of Truth "Mentor," the Duke's Blade "Voslodar," and the Peerless Craftsman "Alchemy King."
Her raw combat prowess and abilities were not considered top-tier, but if the Starry Kingdom were ever reduced to a single surviving legend, everyone would pray that the other legends yield the chance of survival to the Painter—for she was omnipotent.
The unique aspect of the Painting school lay in exchanging time for miracles. Given enough time, Victorique could replicate any miracle she had ever seen through her paintings, and could even create miracles from nothing that were theoretically possible.
In other words, as long as she had enough time, she could cast the most potent healing miracle, the most formidable barrier miracle, the most profound prophecy miracle... But in exchange, the time she required was truly immense.
It was manageable if the miracle involved a school of sorcery she had dabbled in, but creating an unfamiliar miracle from scratch—such as a miracle of Fate—would require years of work. Rather than calling it performing a miracle, it was more like crafting a masterpiece for the ages; if any mishap occurred midway through, it might very well end up as her posthumous work.
From this, one could readily see why the Painting school had fallen into obscurity. Although ordinary creative work doubled as cultivation, the issue was that each piece was consumed upon use. If no danger arose, that was fine; but if danger struck and you burned through your stockpile, did you really think the enemy would wait for you to paint on the spot?
Still, this was not a fatal flaw. While painting sorcerers ran out of artwork, ordinary sorcerers also exhausted their sorcerous mana.
The true vulnerability of painting sorcerers lay in their mindset.
Ordinary sorcerers cast miracles whenever needed without a second thought, but painting sorcerers were different. Every miracle was a masterpiece crafted with their own two hands. If possible, they naturally preferred not to use them, hoarding their precious single-use treasures like hamsters. If victory seemed within reach, they would fight slowly rather than waste an offensive painting; if an incoming strike looked like it could be blocked on their own, they wouldn't waste a defensive painting; if it looked like they could flee on foot, they wouldn't waste a mobility painting... This unavoidable "frugal" mentality drastically increased their chances of landing in dire straits. Combined with the fact that other sorceries were by no means inferior to Painting, it was an inevitable historical outcome that the art would wither away.
However, any painting sorcerer who managed to mature had always been more popular than other sorcerers throughout history—who wouldn't want an omnipotent friend? Victorique, for instance, had repeatedly used barrier paintings to suppress the Abyss, used dazzling multicolored paintings to enliven festivals, and during the Starry Festival a few months ago, she had even presented an area-buff painting to bestow a subtle physical enhancement upon the citizens filling the plaza of Jialesi, causing the sponsorship funds Sword Flower University received to double once again.
By comparison, no matter how formidable the martial might of the Night King, the Pope, the Mentor, and Voslodar, from which enemy could they ever defend the lives of the common folk? Naturally, they were far less popular than the Painter, who could bring tangible benefits to everyday people.
Thus, ever since the starry sky shattered, Victorique had been living quite comfortably.
This was perhaps the most enjoyable vacation she had experienced since becoming a sorcerer... She finally didn't have to paint.
As a Guard Noble, Victorique naturally had to bear the binding of the blessing of all stars.
Any commission the Throne Room assigned to her was one she had no choice but to pour every ounce of effort into completing—because the Throne Room could always provide convincing reasons, ensuring she understood that her paintings served the greater good of the Starry Kingdom.
A noble who prioritized national interests above all else could not even entertain the thought of refusal.
Of course, the Throne Room didn't take her for a free ride. The rewards they offered far exceeded the labor value of a legendary painter, and they spared no effort in sponsoring Victorique's sorcerous research. But in the eight years since she reached the legendary rank, she had spent over sixteen hours painting every single day of every year, seven hours adventuring in the Void Realm, and only one hour attending to physical necessities, leaving her without a shred of personal rest.
Some might wonder: couldn't a legendary sorcerer simply skip going to the Void Realm? But if Victorique didn't enter the Void Realm, the binding of her noble duties would leave her unable to rest anyway; she would be forced to spend those seven hours painting as well. For her, "adventuring in the Void Realm" was her sole means of resisting "noble obligations."
Naturally, Victorique was not the only one suffering. The legendary sorcerers of the Starry Kingdom were all in similar straits: the Alchemy King was so old his teeth were nearly falling out, yet he still had to serve as the chief designer of the Starry military industry; Voslodar spent three hundred days a year on field investigations; the Pope labored day and night to maintain the balance of the starry sky; the Mentor couldn't take half a step out of his laboratory; and the most pitiful of all was the Night King, who ceaselessly patrolled the abysses across the Starry Kingdom to guard against abyssal uprisings.
It was easy to imagine how thrilled the legends had been when the Divine Lord of Stars required legendary sorcerers to enter the Cage of All Stars. Even though their lives were on the line, there was no Throne Room in the Cage of All Stars! Aside from the Divine Lord of Stars, there were no middlemen left to boss them around!
Even though they knew the Throne Room harbored no selfish motives and acted solely for the betterment of the Starry Kingdom... they genuinely couldn't take it anymore!
Even wandering through the Cage of All Stars for a few months and dying in battle was a long-coveted holiday to them!
In the end, Voslodar and the Night King relied on the prestige of their generational nobility to seize this rare opportunity to slack off. Victorique's murderous intent toward them had nearly broken through the shackles of the stars.
Thinking back to the night the Divine Lord of Stars handed down His decree, that group of legends had gathered together for a rare reunion. She still remembered the Alchemy King, that shameless old rogue, cheerfully asking if she planned on getting married anytime soon: "My grandson just got divorced recently, you two could get to know each other..." The Alchemy King had instantly ignited her fury. She was only twenty-eight when she advanced to the legendary rank and had still harbored at least some yearning for romance, but the Throne Room's endless stream of commissions had utterly destroyed her personal life. By the time she came to her senses, even her closest friends had long since settled down with families and careers.
Just as Victorique was on the verge of exploding, Voslodar stepped in to separate them. Among all the legends present, Voslodar was the most haggard. Back when Victorique had just entered noble elementary school, Voslodar had been a dashing young man renowned throughout Jialesi; the magazine covers featuring him were seen by schoolgirls as the ideal standard of a dream lover. Now, however, he had turned into a weary, spiritless middle-aged man who looked as though he came with an entire backstory of marital squabbles and rebellious children.
Of course, Victorique was also well aware of the mess involving the Voslodar family, and in her heart, she naturally cursed that he had it coming and deserved it.
Yet no matter how many grudges they had held in the past, none of it mattered anymore.
The Alchemy King had died at White Tower Fortress; Voslodar had died in the Cage of All Stars.
If they had known a day would come when the starry sky would shatter, they surely would have deeply regretted missing out on such good times.
Victorique's feelings regarding the shattering of the starry sky were actually quite complex. On one hand, the concept of "Stars Above" deeply rooted in her soul made her realize this was a catastrophe; but on the other hand, the invalidation of the stars' binding brought about by the sky's collapse had granted her long-lost freedom.
This lady isn't doing commissions anymore! Throne Room, go harass your own damn mother!
On the second day after the starry sky shattered, Victorique audaciously slept in for a full five hours, soaked in the bath for half an hour, drank wine while watching Daidalos's films, and spent an entire day without touching a paintbrush. Even now, the memory of it gave her a thrill.
There were plenty of sorcerers who had cut loose just like her. Jialesi had appeared calm on the surface over the past half-month, but sanctuary wars had already erupted six times, and there had even been an egregious incident where a legend forcibly slaughtered a sanctuary sorcerer—something unseen for nearly a millennium...
Many conflicts that could only be settled through violence could now finally be wiped clean.
Dangling her short legs, Victorique raised her glass bottle high. A tipsy flush rose to her cheeks as she softly chuckled, "A toast to the stars you guarded unto death."
Chapter 1085