Chapter 310: The Frustrating Horadrim
This... no matter how you look at it, this seems like a Restroom.
I rubbed my Eyes Incredulously, then looked at the other three. I got the same answer from their Eyes.
"The Horadrim are really... well, uh, quite creative..."
With Cain beside me, I couldn't say too much. I gave a forced smile, and my Gaze fell upon a patch of dry, black paste stuck to the Wall, which made me feel a bit nauseous.
"We still don't know if this is a Waypoint. Maybe it's not..."
Cain muttered. At this moment, he didn't seem to want to find a Waypoint so quickly.
I, on the other hand, silently mourned for the Mini-Boss Eye of Fire and its Minion Monsters. Being locked in a Restroom by the Horadrim for thousands of years, I don't know how they endured it. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me sick. If it were me, I'd rather be killed by Adventurers outside. But now, they are finally free.
Everyone held their noses and searched around in this huge Restroom for a while. Soon, Cain's last shred of hope was shattered. Two white Stone Pillars, growing like Vines from two adjacent toilet pits, intertwined to form an entrance with a rather artistic flair. The unique Marker of the Horadrim floated at the top, constantly rotating. The overall appearance was solemn and beautiful, but the location where it was situated made it impossible for me to express my inner praise.
This door was hollow, meaning passing through it would only lead to the other side of the Restroom. Fara fumbled with it for a bit, then said, "No Energy."
The answer was simple, but the question was how to solve it. It couldn't be as simple as just casting an Energy Wave to replenish the Energy. Finally, we turned our Gaze to the Horadrim Marker floating at the top.
The Marker floated at the ends of the two crossed Stone Pillars, looking as if it were being held up by a pair of hands. It seemed quite meaningful. The shape of the Marker was somewhat similar to a ninja's circular throwing star, with seven blades and a recessed imprint in the center. As for the shape of this imprint, you could tell just by looking at the Stingy Guy Fara's pale face.
It was a recessed point in the shape of a Flawless Gem.
Thus, the problem of replenishing Energy was solved easily. However, Fara, this fellow, kept muttering beside Akara like a wronged little wife, saying that the Mage Guild's Funds needed to be increased in the future, and policies needed to be relaxed, and so on.
After embedding a Flawless Ruby into the recessed point, the entire Teleportation Portal suddenly burst into Blue Light. The Marker at the top rotated rapidly like a generator, and wisps of Blue Lightning Glow erupted from the Marker, then conducted to the two Stone Pillars. After the entire Teleportation Portal was filled with Blue Lightning Glow, the hollow space suddenly lit up, forming a Blue Energy Door.
Everyone's Expression became serious. Fara cautiously cast an Ice Armor on himself, then was the first to step into the Blue Energy Door.
Everyone waited for a while, but there was still no News from Fara. The Teleportation Portal wasn't destroyed either. With his Strength, even if he was in trouble, he should be able to retreat, right? I couldn't help but feel Doubt. After getting a signal from Akara, I followed and stepped into the Teleportation Portal.
Everything went black. It felt like something was blocking the way In Front. Without thinking, I threw a Fist forward.
"Ah!!!"
A familiar Scream rang out. Fara was caught off guard and stumbled, holding the Back of his Head and glaring back at me.
"I said, why were you standing at the entrance without moving? If there was no Movement, you should have come back and said something! Everyone was worried about you," I said with a laugh, quickly going back to call Cain and Akara.
After the four of us passed through the Teleportation Portal, we were all Dumbfounded by the sight before us. I had been in a hurry just now and didn't have time to observe the Surroundings carefully. Now, calming down and looking, I couldn't help but be Dumbfounded.
Starry sky.
The four of us were in a dark starry sky. The stars twinkled above our Heads, seemingly within reach, yet so unattainable. Below our feet was a vast Void, shimmering with an endless river of stars, dreamlike and illusory, a beauty not of the mortal world.
"That's right, that's right, this is true Space Magic." Compared to us being Dumbfounded by this beautiful sight, Fara seemed more focused on the Technique used to create this starry sky.
"What exactly is this place?"
Although I had an impression from the Game, I couldn't just speak Nonsense. It's better to ask more about things I'm not absolutely sure of; no one will treat you like an idiot.
"According to the Notes, this should be the Horadrim's Sanctuary, no doubt about it," Cain said Affirmative.
The Name was basically correct, I thought to myself.
"To be able to open up an independent Space, the Space Magic Technique from the flourishing period of civilization is truly amazing. This is true Space Magic!" Fara exclaimed. Compared to his Magic that could only expand a certain Space, what was displayed before him was undoubtedly a new world.
After exclaiming for a while, everyone descended from the Teleportation Portal on the Platform. In Front of us was a huge stone-built Plaza. Fara used Teleport to circle the Edge of the Plaza and then told us some not-so-good News – there were Passages in all four directions of the Plaza, meaning this was another typical Crossroads Labyrinth Terrain.
Damn it! Are you not letting Directionally Challenged People like me live?
"Why create a Labyrinth Route? If Enemies can find this place, then making it a Labyrinth won't be of much use, right?" I complained dissatisfiedly. Everyone had been walking all day, so we decided to Rest in the Plaza for the night and continue exploring tomorrow.
"I think, perhaps, it was the Interest of those creators," Cain said with a Bitter Smile. "When some people's Strength reaches a certain extreme, they will shift their Interest to other areas, such as researching strange and weird things."
So that's how it is. This means that building Teleportation Portals in Restrooms, and even this Sanctuary, as well as the Magic Restrictions around the Horadrim, were likely done with a mindset of fun rather than practicality by the creators at the time. After all, no matter how powerful they were, they couldn't have predicted that Sanctuary would be invaded by the Hell Forces thousands of years later.
Actually, speaking of such people, we happen to have one right beside us.
Everyone's Gaze collectively fell on Fara. Not doing his proper job, specializing in creating strange and weird gadgets, one of the Trouble Makers and causes of Explosions in the Rogue Encampment. Fara had done similar things many times.
Early the next morning, the Four Great Elders, rested and replenished, continued their exploration journey. In this kind of Labyrinth Crossroads, Akara's Prophecy didn't seem to be of much use, so everyone had to guess randomly and pick a direction.
"What happens if we fall?" I asked Apprehensive, looking at the dark Void below my feet. Although I don't have acrophobia, this stone-paved Passage was about ten meters wide, with vast Void on both sides and no obstacles. Looking at it would naturally cause some Fear.
"It's okay. No matter how large the created Space is, it can't be infinite. Even if you jump down, you don't have to worry about not reaching the bottom," Fara, who was leading the way, replied. His expectant Gaze clearly seemed to be saying: Why don't you jump down and try?
Damn it. I gave him the middle finger and firmly moved my Path to the center of the Passage.
"Looks like the Sanctuary has also been invaded," Fara suddenly paused slightly, saying excitedly after we hadn't walked far.
As for the reason for his Excitement, I soon found out.
Soon, many small red dots appeared in the Passage within our line of sight and quickly approached us. With my exceptional eyesight, I was the first to discern the appearance of these Monsters.
A group of upright Goatmen holding Great Cleavers.
To be precise, they should be the final Evolved Form of the Moon Clan that appeared in the Rogue Encampment. Their Name is quite interesting, called the Hell Clan. I wonder if this Name will cause dissatisfaction among the other Hell Clan members.
These blood-red Hell Clan members seemed much faster than the Moon Clan. They closed in on us in no time. I looked at Fara, wondering why he wasn't using Telekinesis to dismember these little things from a distance. The terrifying Magic Fluctuation condensing in Fara's hands told me the answer.
A mass of Frost wrapped in dazzling Lightning accumulated in his hand. With a soft shout, this Lightning Frozen Orb, containing terrifying Power, was thrown out, instantly hitting the leading Hell Clan member in the form of Chain Lightning.
Without even having time to let out a Scream, this Hell Clan member turned into ashes. Not only that, but in the place where it disappeared, a sky-blue sphere suddenly burst out. If you were deceived by the sphere's beautiful appearance, thinking it was just decoration, then you would be completely wrong. This was the Mage's ultimate Cold Magic Skill - Frozen Orb.
In an instant, countless Ice Arrows burst out from the sky-blue sphere, and the Chain Lightning also moved to the next Target. It was already impossible to distinguish whether the subsequent Targets were killed by the Frozen Orb or the Chain Lightning. The area seen by my Eyes was covered by sky-covering white Ice Arrows, and the Temperature of the entire Space seemed to have dropped by over ten degrees.
Permafrost Arrow Hell - this was Fara's Ice-Lightning Hybrid Magic Ultimate Skill.
After the sky-covering Arrow Rain, only a few puddles of ice water remained where the Hell Clan members had been.
"How many years has it been since I used this move? My hands are rusty," Fara, who had been suppressed for a long time, shouted loudly, his expression one of indescribable satisfaction.
No wonder this guy was so excited when the Monsters came. He's a typical show-off. But thinking about it, he's quite pitiful. Kashya is better off; she can go outside under the pretext of being a Guard and vent on some small Fallen. Fara stays in the Camp year-round and rarely even sees an Enemy. This is truly a hero with no place to display his prowess.
After this, it was Fara's performance... uh, to be precise, his venting time. Various types of Compound Magic or single modified magic, and even Creation Magic, were used effortlessly by him. Among them, of course, was his most proficient Tier 4 Lightning Skill and Tier 4 Cold Skill Fusion, the Lightning Ice Blast. He even showed off his Fire Magic, which he wasn't proficient in.
Among these was the ultimate Fire Magic - Hydra. In Fara's hands, the Hydra's nine Heads seemed to have a control system; wherever he pointed, the snake head sprayed. It was a pity the Monsters were too weak to withstand hits. Before he could fully display it, they were roasted into ashes by the Hydra's residual heat.
He was quite regretful about this and didn't show it off again. According to him, for Mages truly proficient in Fire Element, controlling firepower was a small matter. They could form a complete Hydra, controlling it to move on its own, and even flying, making its main body a terrifyingly powerful Existence. Even more so, some could separate the Hydra and create an ultimate Magic called Nine Dragon Blazing Explosion. He had only heard of this and hadn't witnessed it.
However, even with Fara present, the journey wasn't smooth sailing. After walking for half a day, we encountered a Problem.
Blocking us here was a white pillar not far ahead. A round and smooth Lightning Glow sphere flickered on the pillar, looking suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
According to the knowledgeable Cain's guess, this should be a Magic Mechanism created by the Horadrim. It had super strong Magic Resistance, and ordinary Mages shouldn't even think about shaking it. Originally, there was no problem if the Mechanism wasn't activated, but after thousands of years, this Magic Mechanism seemed to be malfunctioning.
See? Fara just went forward and showed off a bit, and was almost roasted directly by the Lightning shot out from the Magic Mechanism. Angered and shamed, he used both Cold and Lightning Magic, exhausting himself and wheezing, only then managing to destroy that Mechanism. So when the second Mechanism appeared In Front of us, he refused to do it.
"Wu, it's time for you to stretch your limbs too." Fara stayed put and refused to move.
"Alright," I sighed. Although my hands were already itching a bit, I didn't expect the first Enemy to be a hard Stone Pillar. It was truly quite frustrating.
Before departing, Fara cast an Ice Armor on me. Although a mage's armor could originally only be used on themselves and couldn't be cast on others, High-Level Mages seemed to have solved this regret. Of course, it's not without its Weaknesses. If casting armor on other Targets, having half of the original Power of the armor is already good.
But this is a Tier 5 Magic after all. Even if it's less than half as effective, its protective Ability is quite powerful. More importantly, this is my first time enjoying the Treatment of Tier 5 Magic! The dissatisfaction on my face also turned into a smile. After adding another Hurricane Armor for myself, I let out a Werewolf Howl. A smooth white Werewolf charged forward and forward bravely, singing a song.
With a flash of White Light, Lightning as thick as a bucket flowed over my Body. Although a part was bounced off by the Ice Armor and another part was counteracted by the Hurricane Armor, I didn't suffer any Damage. However, my whole body was still numb.
As expected of a Tier 3 Lightning Skill. In my opinion, its Power is at least Level 10 or higher. Are you even letting people live?
Noticing the Power of the Magic Mechanism, I charged faster. Take one more step, suffer one less time! After the Mechanism flashed out the second Lightning, the Hurricane Armor broke upon impact, and I finally charged to the foot of the Stone Pillar.
"Ya da da da..."
Without a word, I swung my Fist and smashed. Anyway, it's a Stone Pillar that won't move, so there's no need to talk about Technique or anything. Just smash as fast as possible.
Damn it, why didn't you tell me that the Physical Defense of the Magic Mechanism wasn't much inferior to Magic Resistance either? While smashing, I turned my Head back and looked at the three people with expressions like watching a show with a resentful Gaze.
If I had known earlier that its Bones were this hard, I would have summoned Light Snow and the others to go up together.
After the Stone Pillar collapsed with a crash, I walked back unsteadily. My whole body's snow-white fur was roasted completely black, and faintly, a few residual currents flickered among the fur. My Image was indescribably miserable.
Three days, we walked for a full three days and finally reached the End. Along the way, besides encountering Magic Mechanisms, it was still relatively pleasant. What was frustrating was that the End of this path was actually a Small Plaza, meaning it was a dead end. A one-fourth Chance is indeed not easy to guess right.
The only Gain was that there were several Treasure Chests inside the Small Plaza. Probably hadn't been touched for a thousand years, these Treasure Chests provided us with a large amount of Gold Coins, over ten Chipped Gems, several Flawed Gems, one Perfect Gem, and in addition, several pieces of Magic Equipment. Added up, it was worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins. Besides those few Gems, I didn't care much for the others, so these things were turned over to the public.
Besides the Treasure Chests, there was also a Magic Shrine. Using it can speed up Magic recovery Speed. Considering Fara, this poor fellow, hasn't seen what a Shrine looks like in decades, I let him relive the taste of the Shrine.
Speaking of which, actually, I haven't enjoyed many Shrines either. I did encounter several Monster Shrines. When will I get a Gem Shrine to play with?
On the way back, I Summoned two Ghost Wolves to carry the slow-moving Cain and Akara. It only took less than a day's Time to return to the original Plaza.
Which path to choose next? A one-third Chance. Everyone looked at each other...
"Let's go this way. I feel the guidance of the Great Eye's Power." Akara, with her Eyes tightly closed, suddenly pointed forward with her Cane.
Oh oh, has the Great Eye's Power finally activated? At this moment, Akara transformed into a golden, shining God of the Labyrinth in my Eyes.
"..."
Looking at the land thousands of meters away from us, separated by a large expanse of bottomless Void, and a Red Portal In Front of us, the four of us were silent for a long time.
"The Horadrim really had nothing better to do," I squinted my Eyes and looked into the distance.
"Well... maybe," Cain, being a member of the Horadrim, surprisingly didn't Refute me.
Fortunately, these Teleportation Portals had sufficient Energy. Otherwise, just these Gems would be too expensive for us. Looking again, the Level of these Red Portals seemed quite a bit lower than the Blue Teleportation Portal in the Jail Restroom. The Gems used to supply Energy, inlaid on the Marker, were only Flawed Grade.
"How about we dig up these Flawed Gems?" Fara's Eyes rolled. The Stingy Guy's special Skill, 'pluck feathers from a passing goose' technique, activated. As a result, he was glared at by Cain and only then settled down.
Passing through one dazzling Red Portal after another, let alone me, even the others were a bit confused. Now everyone could only move forward relying on the faint guidance Akara felt. Town Portal Scrolls couldn't be used here either. Could it be that the dignified Four Great Elders of the Rogues were actually going to leave their corpses here?
Fortunately, the Great Eye was still loyal, and Akara also lived up to expectations, managing to persevere relying on that faint guidance. When everyone found the path ahead was straight and the small Red Portals that had left a shadow in our hearts no longer appeared, they couldn't help but cheer. They picked up their pace, just wanting to leave this damned place quickly.
After moving forward for a while, we finally arrived at the Destination - the End of the Passage. A huge Plaza appeared In Front of us. Different from the Plaza at the first Passage, the Plaza In Front of us was larger. Of course, this is Nonsense. Besides being large, there were also patches of Monsters on it: blood-red Hell Clan, Wraith-like Wraiths, and the Mage-type Monsters that were the most troublesome for Adventurers - the Evolved Form of the Exiled, the Vampire Lord.
Such a large group of Monsters gathered together, among them, there were quite a few Chieftains and Elites, already indicated something significant.
"There's a strong Magic Fluctuation ahead," Fara said slowly, Gazing at the Plaza. Looking at his relaxed Expression, the so-called "strong Magic Fluctuation" should be relative to Adventurers of my Level.
Continued walking forward for a while, I finally saw the owner of the strong Magic Fluctuation Fara mentioned - in the pavilion in the center of the Plaza, a Mage wearing a Blue Mage Robe inlaid with gold threads, wearing a gold-inlaid two-cornered Hat on his Head, and even more ostentatiously holding a golden Staff in his hand, was standing there, commanding the guarding Monsters.
"Strength is already close to Demon Lord Level. The Advantage of Ranged Magic plus a large group of Minions acting as Tanks, the difficulty is definitely no less than dealing with a Demon King," Fara analyzed after making his judgment. He probably saw my restless thoughts.
"If it's just Demon Lord Level, then it's fine," I licked my dry lips. My Eyes were filled with irrepressible Battle Intent. Even if something unexpected happens, what's there to fear with Fara around?
Thinking of this, my Spirit was instantly roused. I brought along the majestic and spirited five Ghost Wolves and the Poison Creeper, followed by an Oak Sage behind me. After being armed to the teeth, I only then quickly approached the Plaza.
When still several hundred meters away from the Plaza Entrance, a group of Hell Clan Minions finally discovered our Existence. The leading Chieftain let out a strange cry, instantly Summoning dozens of nearby Monsters. They charged towards us aggressively. I looked, tsk tsk, among them, there was even an Elite Level Wraith.
I stopped and gave the Monsters opposite a cold smile. The Passage was only nearly ten meters wide, but this Hell Clan was tall and bulky, occupying a large area of Space. Therefore, hundreds of Monsters could only charge forward in a long line. Wasn't this just convenient for me?
Roar—!!
As soon as Light Snow 's Radiant Fury Strike came out, half of the Monsters instantly disappeared.
Triple Firestorm.
The extremely overbearing Chaotic Fire instantly turned almost the entire Passage into a sea of fire. After the Great Fire, not a single Monster... oh, no, there was also that Elite Level Wraith, which fortunately dodged Light Snow 's Radiant Fury Strike. Although Triple Firestorm looked spectacular, its single-target killing power wasn't enhanced, so it naturally couldn't Instant Kill the Elite Level Wraith.
Besides that, there were also two lucky Vampire Lords who survived. Damn it, under the Protagonist's Halo, you still couldn't die? So powerful? The remaining four Ghost Wolves immediately pounced and soon tore the remaining three Monsters to shreds. Looking around, the Items dropped by hundreds of Monsters covered a small area of the ground. Don't know if my Eyes were dazzled by the Gold Coins, but that Elite Wraith seemed to have dropped a golden shining Item. Will pick it up after the Battle ends.
I shifted my Gaze to the Mage Monster and was startled to find that he was already furiously commanding all the Monsters to charge towards us. It turned out that Light Snow 's Radiant Fury Strike had chipped off a corner of his beloved Small Pavilion. No wonder his Eyes were red with anger.
Hundreds of Monsters surged over, that was no joke. Especially the Vampire Lords' barrage of Fire Balls, plus that Mage with nearly Demon Lord Level Strength, even I couldn't handle it. Just as I was thinking of retreating, I suddenly discovered a situation and was instantly amused.
I just said, the Passage was only nearly ten meters wide, only enough for six or seven Hell Clan members side by side. Now the Problem arose. The Vampire Lords, being Ranged Monsters, naturally couldn't be the vanguard. But when the tall Hell Clan members stood In Front, they also blocked their Attack Route. With their Wisdom, they couldn't perform high-difficulty Techniques like lobbing Magic. Therefore, I didn't have to worry about their Fire Ball bombardment at all.
My Eyes rolled. I and the five Ghost Wolves stood in a line, blocking the Passage, and faced the Monster Army. Although it seemed like fighting the many with the few, in reality, only the front-row Hell Clan members could actually reach us. It was very Safe. I tried my best to keep Firestorm moving forward in a straight line, and Molten Boulder was cast repeatedly. Soon burned the front-row Hell Clan members and the Vampire Lords behind them, making them cry out in pain.
Just as I was exclaiming how cost-effective this Battle was, a warning suddenly flashed in my Inner Heart. I suddenly flipped backward. The place where I had just been standing had turned into a sea of fire. My Buttocks still couldn't escape and were burned bright red. The five Ghost Wolves, except for Light Snow , also suffered minor burns.
Damn it, it was that Mage.
I leaped several times, took the opportunity to glance at the rear of the Monsters. As expected, that golden shining show-off Mage was already standing behind the Monsters. Waving his golden Staff, a Frozen Pillar arced in a parabola, passed over the Heads of the Monsters, and was lobbed towards us.
Damn it again, he's a technical Mage! Looks like this will be difficult to handle. I retreated repeatedly, thinking of a strategy to deal with the Enemy.
Wait a minute, my Inner Heart lit up. It seemed the Mage was standing alone behind the Monsters, not a single Guard beside him. After observing this Result several times, I had a plan in my Inner Heart. My Figure paused, looking at the overwhelming surge of Monsters coming towards me, a slight smile crossed the Corner of my mouth.