newbobooks Chapter 475, Section 484: The Closed Loop of Fate
Chapter 475, Section 484: The Closed Loop of Fate
Chapter 475, Section 484: The Closed Loop of Fate (Part 3)
The two people knew.
The enemy has come again.
"It's a vengeful spirit! A formless and intangible spiritual entity!"
Saruman immediately identified the type of enemy; this was one of the most troublesome, as physical attacks were almost ineffective, and conventional magic was also greatly diminished in its effectiveness.
He immediately chanted "Divine Nova," attempting to dispel these negative spiritual entities with a wide-ranging divine energy.
A soft white light spread out from him, and wherever it passed, the shadows melted away like ice and snow meeting the sun, and the malicious whispers turned into painful screams.
However, these shadowy vengeful spirits seemed endless; as soon as one was dispelled, more would seep out from the cracks in the walls and floors, reforming themselves. They surged like a tide, crashing against Saruman's mental defenses and sacred barrier, draining his magical power.
"Oh my God!" Kag was almost helpless in this situation. He could only keep his mind focused, resisting the mental erosion of the vengeful spirit's whispers, while remaining vigilant against possible physical attacks. He felt waves of dizziness, as if cold needles were constantly piercing his brain.
"This won't do! My magic is being used up too quickly!" Saruman's face turned pale. Maintaining Holy Nova required a continuous consumption of a large amount of magic, and these vengeful spirits seemed to be endless.
Just as he was considering whether to use a more dangerous and energy-consuming forbidden spell, Kag suddenly pointed to a corner of the mural and shouted, "Saruman! Look there!"
Saruman looked in the direction Kag pointed and saw a barely noticeable, swirling symbol carved in the corner of the mural depicting stars and tentacles. At the center of the symbol was a black gem that had long since lost its luster. And around the symbol, the shadows were exceptionally faint.
Almost no vengeful spirits dared to approach.
"That symbol—it might have a restraining effect on them!"
Saruman instantly understood. He immediately changed his strategy, ceasing to cast Holy Nova and instead focusing his magic into a beam, which he shot towards the vortex symbol!
"Buzz—"
The moment the magic was injected, the black gemstone emitted a faint, extremely dim, dark light! Immediately afterward, an invisible suction force was generated centered on the symbol!
"Aaaaaaah!"
The surrounding shadowy spirits seemed to be greatly frightened, letting out even more mournful howls, and fled rapidly away from the symbol like the receding tide.
Within seconds, it vanished without a trace.
The passage returned to its previous deathly silence, with only the dark light on the vortex symbol still flickering faintly before fading away again.
"It seems that was magic left behind by some senior who fought against these monsters. Fortunately, we noticed it." Both of them breathed a sigh of relief, their backs already soaked with cold sweat.
"This city—it's too eerie." Kag panted, feeling as if he had fought an invisible army.
Saruman walked to the mural, carefully examining the swirling symbol, trying to decipher its meaning, but to no avail. The symbol didn't belong to any magical system he knew. "This city isn't just dangerous; it also hides something—something we can use. But we know nothing about it, like the blind men and the elephant."
Realizing this, they still dared not continue their research there. After a brief respite, they pressed on. However, the trials of R'lyeh seemed endless.
Sure enough, while passing through a hall filled with huge, hollow coelenterate fossils, they accidentally disturbed the "residents" living there.
"Giggle giggle~"
A chilling sound, like the scraping of metal, came from the holes in the fossil. Then, countless fist-sized flying creatures, resembling enlarged piranhas but with transparent wings like dragonflies, swarmed out like a black whirlwind!
"Buzz buzz buzz~" These creatures were covered in dark purple chitinous carapaces, their compound eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty red light, and their mouths filled with spiraling, gleaming, sharp teeth. They were incredibly fast, their flight trajectories treacherous, emitting a piercing buzzing sound as they pounced directly on the two!
"A wildfire spreads!"
Saruman attempted to block with area-of-effect fire magic, but the flying creatures were extremely agile, with most easily dodging the fire wall, and only a few being set ablaze.
It fell down emitting a burnt smell.
"These things wouldn't taste good when soaked in alcohol!" Kag swung his greatsword, the wind whistling as he instantly sliced several approaching monsters in two.
But these insects were too numerous and seemed utterly fearless, swarming forward relentlessly. Their sharp teeth were even capable of gnawing through Kag's aura defenses and Saruman's magical shield.
It makes a teeth-grinding "crack" sound.
For a time, the two were locked in a fierce battle. Saruman constantly switched between "Frost Nova" and "Chain Lightning."
It has area control and field clearing spells, but its effectiveness is limited.
"Damn it!"
Kag wielded his greatsword with impenetrable force, and the number of insect corpses piling up beneath his feet grew ever larger, but his stamina was also rapidly depleting, and the wound on his arm reopened due to the intense exertion.
Blood soaked through the bandages. To make matters worse, the buzzing of these strange insects seemed to have a mental interference effect, slowing down both of their reaction times.
"We'll be worn down if this continues!" A resolute glint flashed in Saruman's eyes as he prepared to unleash a costly area-of-effect annihilation spell.
just.
Casting such magic could lead to a loss of mental control.
and so.
Saruman also hesitated.
Just then, Kag noticed a characteristic of these strange insects—they seemed unusually sensitive to bright light. "Saruman! Light! Intense light!"
Saruman understood immediately and abandoned his offensive spells. The crystal at the top of his staff burst forth with a blinding flash of light, like a small sun!
"Radiant Light!"
Like the midday sun instantly dispelling the darkness, the entire hall was bathed in a ghastly white light! The flying monsters emitted painful, piercing screechs, their compound eyes momentarily blinded by the intense light, their flight paths becoming chaotic and disorganized, colliding with each other like headless flies, many even crashing directly into the walls and fossils, falling to the ground dizzy and disoriented.
"Now!"
Kag roared, seized the opportunity, and his greatsword, leaving afterimages, slashed down the disoriented monsters like a meat grinder!
Saruman also coordinated by casting several small-area precision strike spells to eliminate any remaining enemies.
A few minutes later, silence finally returned to the hall, leaving only the twitching insect corpses scattered on the floor and the strong, fishy stench in the air.
The two men, back to back, were breathing heavily, their sweat mixed with blood and dust, looking utterly disheveled. Although they had managed to thwart the series of attacks, it had made them acutely aware that the dangers deep within the city of R'lyeh were far more sinister and deadly than those in the outer corridors.
The "residents" here are not only powerful, but their attack methods are also bizarre, as if they were born to kill and destroy.
"Hurry up and go."
They dared not linger any longer. Dragging their weary bodies, bearing their wounds and heavy hearts, they continued their arduous journey toward the "door" marked on the map. Every step felt like walking on a knife's edge, unsure when or how the next attack would strike.
They encountered several more attacks during the rest of their journey.
Every battle is exceptionally difficult. These "residents" or "derivatives" of R'lyeh have unpredictable attack methods and are highly resistant to conventional magic and physical attacks.
Furthermore, they are extremely adept at using the environment to launch surprise attacks and psychological disruption.
Saruman had to frequently switch between various unorthodox and even somewhat forbidden spells to cope, while Kag had almost exhausted the enchanting potions and scrolls he carried.
During a lull in the fighting, Saruman noticed some relatively intact building surfaces engraved with inscriptions that were of the same origin as the stone tablets outside the city, but more complex.
He risked getting distracted and deciphered a few.
"————Sacrifice————At————the door————"
"The Path Between Life and Death"
"The shadow follows the form, ultimately returning to oneness."
"Looking up at the starry sky is to fall into depravity."
These inscriptions are fragmented and filled with ominous implications.
It seemed to point to some kind of sacrificial ritual, a path between life and death, and an ultimate fate of being assimilated by the city. This intensified his unease.
Just as they were finally about to cross the dangerous area after their arduous journey and could vaguely see the relatively open square marked on the map ahead, a young and cold voice, which they were somewhat familiar with yet always shrouded in mystery, suddenly appeared.
It once again pierced the heavy silence of R'lyeh with clarity.
Like a pebble thrown into an ancient well.
It stirred up invisible ripples.
This time, the voice was no longer impatient, nor was it a declaration of battle, but rather carried a hint of—a very slight surprise, as if something had been discovered.
"————So that's where it is."
The source of the sound seemed to be deep within the square ahead!
Saruman and Kag stopped abruptly, exchanged a glance, and both saw shock and wariness in each other's eyes.
That vanished legend—he really is still in the city!
And it seems he's found something!
Was it a clue to their escape? Some powerful treasure? Or—an even more terrifying, forbidden being slumbering here? Their hearts pounded, and the exhaustion from their recent fierce battles seemed to be somewhat lessened by this new development. Without hesitation, they quickened their pace and walked more cautiously toward the direction from which the sound came.
no way.
Realizing that the monsters in this city were terrifying, the two knew they still had to rely on that legend. No matter how dangerous that legend was, it should make them feel safer than this city.
Their hearts pounded wildly in their chests, a mixture of the thrill of surviving a disaster and the curiosity of the new discovery, temporarily suppressing the heavy fatigue brought on by the series of fierce battles.
Saruman and Kag exchanged a glance, both seeing the same determination in each other's eyes—they had to find out what the legend had discovered!
The two people were like two ghosts disappearing into the shadows.
quickened their pace, following the direction from which the sound had last come, and stealthily made their way towards the more open plaza area ahead, which might also conceal greater dangers.
The road beneath our feet was still paved with those cold, green boulders, but it seemed much smoother. Along the edge of the plaza stood even more enormous and twisted stone sculptures, some resembling deep-sea monsters frozen in a moment of agonizing roar, others simply geometric stacks that defied description and challenged the limits of reason.
The turbulent energy currents in the air seemed to calm down here, but the ubiquitous, frenzied whispers originating from the city itself did not diminish.
Instead, it's like some kind of background noise, eternally echoing in this space.
"He's right there!"
Saruman pinpointed the exact location from which the sound originated.
They dared not get too close, and when they were still quite a distance from the center of the square, they used a toppled, hole-ridden giant pillar as cover.
Then, cautiously, they peeked out and looked towards the source of the sound. They saw that the center of the plaza was relatively open, with a huge and complex magic circle etched into the ground, emitting a faint, eerie light. And at the edge of that circle, with its back to them, crouched a small figure.
The figure wore a seemingly simple black robe that emanated a subtle magical glow, the hem of which trailed on the dusty ground.
The other person was thin and had narrow shoulders; judging from his back, he was clearly a boy who was not yet an adult!
"Oh my God!" Kag's breath hitched, his eyes widened like saucers, and he almost cried out in surprise, but luckily he covered his mouth with his hand in time.
He blinked hard, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
Legend? The being who unleashed world-destroying death magic and battled countless terrifying beings—was actually just a child?!
Saruman was equally shocked, but he steadied himself faster than Kag. He grabbed the nearly out-of-control Kag and whispered in a barely audible voice, "Calm down! Kag! Don't be fooled by appearances! Wizards, especially those who have reached the legendary level, have many ways to maintain their youthful appearance!"
"Some ancient magical rituals, rare potions, or even the characteristics of his bloodline itself could all help him maintain his youthful form! Don't forget our speculation that he may come from an ancient era that we don't understand!" Saruman was trying to find a truly reasonable explanation.
He had dreamed of becoming a legend in his youth.
But I never imagined I would be this young.
Even the greatest talents of ancient times.
That's a bit too outrageous!
"Is that so?" Kag forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to process Saruman's words. Yes, for a legend who could manipulate the power of heaven and earth, changing or maintaining one's appearance might really be nothing. Of course, knowing this was one thing, but seeing a boy-like being squatting in front of that ominous magic circle still created a strong conflict between his vision and his perception, making him feel incredibly strange and a little bit of indescribable—awe.
The two held their breath, hiding behind the shadow of the giant pillar, and peered into the distance. They saw the "boy" extend his fair and slender fingers, which seemed to contain infinite power, and gently brush over a mark on the magic circle. Tiny sparks of magic danced at his fingertips, as if he were sensing and analyzing the structure and energy flow of the array.
"Gotcha! Cthulhu!"
The other person's movements were focused and steady, completely unlike the impetuousness one would expect from a teenager. He was Ian, who had crossed a thousand years to meet Saruman and Kag from a thousand years ago.