[Warning: Unknown realm-scale magic has been invoked!]
The spell spread through the realm like a virus and unseen. Circle after circle appeared depths where the rock was mostly homogeneous. Yet mutations and failed spell circles did appear from time to time. Not that it mattered, as they would usually either do nothing or not propagate any further and if that still happened, other spell circles would correct the faulty ones later.
Though maybe it was a bit too much paranoia, since even with a few percent of faulty spell circles the result would still be mostly the same.
Obviously such observations were impossible for the caster of the ritual. Although she had a good sense for mana, the scale of the spell circles combined with the rather defensive location offered little opportunity to actually perceive what was going on.
Not that those trivial limitations applied to a certain young girl, who was standing on one of the higher mountains of the realm to get a better view of the scene. Was the location truly necessary for her to get a good view? No, but it was the most efficient solution. Also it was a good way to vanish from prying eyes for a while. Not that they would have been able to hold onto her for long anyway.
Only a few moments had passed since the spell had been invoked, yet basically the whole realm was covered in spell circles. Already anticipating what would happen next, the girl took a step to the side.
Then an earthquake shook the world.
Countless cracks appeared all over the realm. One even appeared where the girl stood a moment ago. Through the cracks weren’t just cracks as most mages and even non-mages quickly realized. Partly due to the already subsiding glow, partly due to repeating patterns. The whole realm was transformed into a giant spell circle. A rather crude one, but a spell circle nonetheless.
And basically everyone in the realm reacted to it.
Most of those able to flee evacuated the realm, if they hadn’t already.
However a few members of the Flame Sea Shore faction still chose to stay. Either in hopes that they could damage the ritual by destroying the cracks in the floor or to continue their frantically searching for the mastermind behind the ritual. Maybe they also simply thought that whatever was coming would be survivable.
Unfortunately they made a few too many mistakes.
The pattern on the floor wasn’t just two dimensional but had depth to it. So even when it looked like they destroyed a section of the ritual, it was merely a scratch on the surface.
Normally those scratches could cause magic to fail, depending on where they were placed. However, even though it might seem like a giant magic circle, it was just an amalgamation of numerous sections, each able to function on its own. So even the lucky few hits which actually caused to destroy or change important parts were meaningless, if one regarded the bigger picture.
Unfortunately, even those successes were irrelevant, as that part of the ritual had already achieved its task. Maybe even overachieved, as now a lot of the remaining manpower was focused on the destruction of no longer needed structure, which caused many to miss what happened next.
The lone girl on the mountain top looked at the black sky. Just that the sky was no longer pure black.
Instead a myriad of glowing spell circles decorated the firmament of the realm with growing spheres of water behind them.
Some of the faction members who were still searching for the initiator might have noticed the spells, some of those with better mana senses too, but it didn’t matter. It was already too late. Not even that one woman with her mana arrows would be able to destroy all the spell circles.
Though while the light-show was nice to look at, it was also getting quite dangerous. Her body was currently only level 100. It was time to get out of the realm. With that thought a giant maw swallowed the girl which had previously stood on the mountain and she vanished from the realm.
However that didn’t mean she stopped her observations. She merely changed her point of view.
A giant water-drop the size of a house crushed into the place she stood just moments before. Her caution had paid off. And it wasn’t the only drop. Soon many more joined the first, leaving behind craters wherever they landed, before vanishing into the depths of the realm thanks to the cracks created previously.
However those were just the harbingers of what was about to come. An unintended warning to all those still focused on destroying meaningless remnants of spells. Likely caused by slight errors which appeared in the self-replicating spell.
Some looked up and froze, others managed to tear themselves away from the breathtaking view of a giant realm-sized wall of water and were trying to run to one of the dimensional rifts or some form of shelter. Hoping to somehow increase their chances of survival.
Though once the spells which formed and kept the water in the air vanished, those creatures had another problem. With the water descending the air now trapped in between solid and liquid had to go. Storms quickly developed and kept increasing in strength, making any attempts to escape the realm nearly impossible.
Some beings and rocks even went flying, but the storm ended as abruptly as it formed with the arrival of the liquid element.
Crushing whatever hadn’t found shelter; invading all cracks; quenching the fires; tainting the realm in wetness.
None would drown in the aftermath as air wasn’t required to survive, but that didn’t stop beings from being squished and washed away by the torrents.
More earthquakes shook the realm.
Geology shifted under the forces of the foreign element.
Old mountains were turned to rubble, new mountains were born.
Even more changes seemed to happen, yet, as the initial flood slowly vanished into the depths of the realm and merged with the plain itself, steam started to spread and veiled the word.
Though even with the water gone on the surface, the realm would likely need a few hours or days to fully adapt and stabilize. As she was also getting hungry again, the girl decided that it was a good moment to search for another realm and plunder a few restaurants. She could return later to observe the changes.
Turning away and focusing on potential destinations, it was a bit sad that the followers turned out to be fake, though she guessed it was fine, since they still shared pretty similar values. Well, even if they didn’t, it wasn’t her job to take care of pretenders.
At least the show just now had been mildly entertaining. Maybe a bit too crude in the execution, but there was probably not much more she could expect from low level beings. It was already a miracle that they even managed to reshape a realm in the first place with their limited abilities.
