Chapter 337 335-Wraith Cult
With the golden skull emblem in his hand proving ineffective, Ethan didn't panic.
Instead, he turned around, facing away from the great door, and looked back down the corridor he had traversed.
Since the golden skull emblem didn't work, Ethan reasoned that the key to unlocking the door's secret must lie within the corridor itself.
It was then that he began to observe everything in the corridor more intently.
He realized that previously, his attention had been solely on the paintings, and he had not noticed the wall lamps beside them.
The lamps were not arranged in orderly rows along the walls of the corridor. Instead, their placement was staggered and haphazard, creating a chaotic pattern.
Moreover, under the varied illumination of these lamps, the paintings appeared somewhat different.
The play of light and shadow on the walls made these artworks even more eerie and terrifying.
The lighting in the corridor was dim, with only the occasional wall lamp flickering, rendering the paintings all the more sinister and frightening.
Ethan retraced his steps, seeking to unravel the mystery behind the paintings and the wall lamps.
But after going back and forth twice, he still hadn't discovered anything.
The most significant realization was that the path to exit the castle had completely vanished, yet the rope around his waist remained intact.
He tugged gently on the rope, feeling a dragging sensation from the other end.
"Well, well," Ethan's eyebrows lifted, "I clearly can't get out, but the rope hasn't broken. This castle is truly bizarre."
Now, with no way back, Ethan's only option was to solve the mystery of the door at the end of the corridor.
He studied the paintings and the irregularly arranged wall lamps, sinking into deep thought.
Those wall lamps, in their haphazard placement along the corridor, seemed somewhat out of place.
A flash of insight struck Ethan, and he suddenly leapt up, unfurling his wings behind him.
Soaring to the top of the corridor, he looked down upon it.
Now, the entire layout of the corridor was visible to him.
To his surprise, it was a semi-circular corridor, nestled in darkness.
The wall lamps in the darkness were like stars emitting halos of light.
Why did this scene seem so familiar?
Ethan gasped sharply, a memory surfacing in his mind of the time he had fully mastered the Flame Language of Nature and the Frost Language of Nature.
He fell into deep thought, meticulously recalling the transformation process of the Frost Language of Nature.
In the center of a sphere formed by countless interconnected particles, a black particle exploded.
The energy from this explosion was repelled back by the particles.
Then, the rebounded energy converged at the center of the sphere, where an ice crystal then appeared.
This was the operational process of the Frost Language of Nature.
Those particles were like codes, enabling the use of frost-related spells as long as the particles were activated.
Now, weren't the wall lamps in the corridor similar to the particles of the Language of Nature?
With this thought in mind, Ethan realized he only had half of the equation.
Although incomplete, he still had some understanding of how to use it.
He started to touch points in the air, channeling energy into each wall lamp.
Sure enough, one of the wall lamps suddenly lit up, its flame reaching high, illuminating the surroundings.
Then the flame transformed into a dragon, connecting each wall lamp.
Gradually, the lamps formed a semi-circle, slightly resembling the Language of Nature.
At this moment, the system announced:
"Congratulations to the host for acquiring the Rune of Law Wraith (Incomplete)."
[Law Wraith (Incomplete): Neither dead nor alive.]
The system's notification initially brought a surge of excitement to Ethan.
Law represented a power only accessible to deities. He hadn't expected to encounter it so soon.
However, the description of [Law Wraith] left Ethan baffled.
Such philosophically loaded statements gave him a headache, but there was some truth to them.
Wraiths or skeletons are beings that exist in the liminal space between life and death.
Could the essence of Law Wraith be about transcending the boundaries of life and death, achieving a completely different form of liberation?
Lost in thought while floating in the air, Ethan noticed changes beginning to occur in the wall lamps of the corridor.
The flames in all the lamps, as if summoned by the ancient lantern hanging above the door, surged towards it.
Suddenly, the corridor was filled with a myriad of flickering lights, gradually dispelling the surrounding darkness.
The flames from the wall lamps infused the ancient lantern, causing its white-green flame to grow robust and vibrant.
The darkness was driven away by the white-green fire, revealing the surroundings of the great door.
There was nothing around the door except for a gigantic Wraith standing at the entrance.
The Wraith, towering at the end of the corridor, had a chilling appearance.
It had a peculiar look; its head was complete yet ethereal, like a soul, with a large and ferocious skull, deeply sunken eye sockets glowing with a green light.
Its teeth were as sharp as knives, its lips cracked, revealing a sinister smile.
On its forehead were a pair of sharp horns, seemingly a symbol of the devil.
For the first time, Ethan experienced what it felt like when void and reality coalesced in a single creature.
Its head alone was as large as a meteorite, and its torso was even more terrifying, possessing actual flesh and blood.
The creature was over a hundred meters long, making Ethan appear like a mere speck in front of it.
Its bones were thick and twisted, like a demon from hell; parts of its body were covered with layers of rotting flesh, emitting a nauseating stench.
The Wraith's arms were robust and powerful, its fingers like lethal claws, adorned with long black nails.
Its chest was wide open, revealing a dark, hollow abyss that seemed to emanate a force capable of devouring all life.
The Wraith's abdomen was riddled with scars and rotting wounds, continuously dripping black fluid.
Its legs were distorted and deformed, with knees protruding outward, and feet as hard as iron hooves.
Long claws grew from its toes, ready to snatch any prey that came into sight.
Ethan's mouth twitched slightly, and he fluttered his wings, moving a bit backward.
The entire gigantic Wraith exuded an aura of death.
Its eyes revealed endless malice and ferocity.
Each of its breaths was accompanied by a cold wind, instilling fear in anyone near it.
Standing in front of it, Ethan felt as insignificant as an ant, powerless against its terrifying might.
Instinctively, he used his Eye of Alchemy to observe the giant-like Wraith.
The Eye of Alchemy, which had failed several times since entering Santos Tower, surprisingly worked this time.
Ethan read the detailed introduction, inhaling sharply.
The information was overwhelming.
He didn't know where Pongxi Continent was.
Who exactly was the Grand Archbishop of the Wraith Cult?
Was the God of Wraith a deity title or just a moniker?
It was clear that Sheimodo had been summoned and should have regained consciousness.
Why then was Sheimodo here now, displaying no divinity but instead resembling a demonic Wraith?
What exactly had transpired, and what was Sheimodo's current attitude?
Ethan's mind was in disarray, but Sheimodo spoke emotionlessly:
"The essence of death, the sovereign of the deceased, the ultimate destination of all beings. My noble lord, welcome home."
Accompanying the echoing words in the corridor, Sheimodo surprisingly knelt before Ethan, then spread his gigantic arms wide and forcefully pulled the great door open from the middle.
It was unclear whether Sheimodo lacked the strength or knew that Ethan needed only this much space.
He merely opened the door enough to reveal a gap, just wide enough for Ethan to pass through.
A beam of holy white light shot out from the door, bright but not blinding.
Ethan licked his lips, uncertain whether to enter.
The God of Wraith didn't seem like a benevolent entity.
Sheimodo had become its Entourage, only to end up in this ghastly form.
What sort of character, then, was the master of this entity?
Sheimodo didn't urge Ethan, merely bowing his head as if waiting for Ethan's move.
Ethan, feeling a bit more daring, took two steps forward. Sheimodo remained motionless, like a corpse.
"Could it be that only the Lord of Wraiths is here, waiting for his successor?" Ethan wondered to himself. But now, there was no turning back.
Gritting his teeth, he suddenly plunged through the great door.
As he entered, a sensation of tearing washed over him, and Ethan raised his hand to shield his eyes from the dazzling holy white light.
The surreal space around him gradually came into focus.
Ethan gazed at the space, entirely different from the previous corridor, and his mouth fell open in astonishment.
"A library?" he exclaimed, almost dislocating his jaw in surprise.
The stark contrast between what he had just experienced and what now lay before him added to his confusion.
He quickly turned around.
In the library, filled with scrolls and magic books, the massive door had completely vanished.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l