Chapter 1255: Chapter 69: Trap (Part 2)
In this forsaken place called Oubos in Oath City, every ghost story is a truth waiting to be verified.
"I often hear this phrase, it’s like a mantra for them," Furya said at the right moment, "Sometimes, I think they are just like... just like..."
Bologue had previously explained the aftermath of the secret war to Furya. Furya recalled and said, "Just like the souls of those who died in battle, they have been reborn in the form of monsters, yet remain trapped in the secret war, stubbornly defending the Cultivation Room."
Furya’s notebook was full of dialogues among the staff, which Bologue had also read. Each person’s conversation was different, the words vivid, even reflecting their personalities.
If one discards their eerie appearance and sinister essence, they would truly look like living humans to Bologue.
Bologue once doubted whether he was unknowingly suffering from cognitive distortion, seeing living people as monsters, but he quickly dismissed it.
Cognitive distortion can deceive one’s senses, but it cannot distort the pure essence of ether.
"We’ll figure out what happened."
Bologue said firmly, then strode forward.
Two staff members stood guard at the main passage, leaving Bologue no choice but to stride forward, unable to avoid their gaze.
They noticed Bologue’s arrival and suspiciously remarked, "It’s not shift change time yet."
"I know."
Before the words were finished, Bologue suddenly accelerated, his figure like a twisted shadow, appearing in front of the two staff members in an instant. The protective clothing was easily pierced, resentment bit through their throats, and the Vengeful Saw Axe cleaved their heads.
From his own experience and Furya’s notes, these staffers were all independent individuals. Through "acting," they could use a whistle-like communication method for long-distance communication, but for the same reason, as long as Bologue killed them before they could send a message, it was fine.
They were undead, but for the sake of "acting" as staff members, death and inability to pass messages were part of the role play.
The two staff members were paralyzed instantly, with the glow of ether shimmering in their wounds. But just as they were about to heal, a bizarre suction was released from Bologue’s body.
Protection·Soul Sucking and Essence Stealing!
As pure energy beings, with Bologue’s plundering protection, he could perhaps devour their ether.
Brilliant, flowing light scattered, countless rays danced in the air, the ether guided by Bologue, flickering on and off, weaving into a swirling vortex.
The vortex, like the eye of a flame, with constantly changing flowing light, reached a peak and quickly collapsed into a singular point of light.
The radiance was absorbed into Bologue’s body, reflecting on the increasingly dazzling Alchemy Matrix.
Bologue took a long breath, he had succeeded.
No one possesses a perfect undying body, and for this reason, the undying of the staff members also had their flaws. Like Bologue, repeated killings would weaken their ether. When the ether completely dissipated, they would stop resurrecting.
Now that Bologue had devoured their ether, putting them into a dormant state, he knew it couldn’t kill them completely. However, for them to wake up again, it would take several hours to absorb the ether free in the air.
By then, Bologue’s actions would be long over.
"What... what did you do?"
Furya rushed over, having only seen Bologue suddenly attack the staff members, bringing them down with two swift blows.
The ether was completely plundered, with shrill gas hissing from the wounds in the protective clothing, and the original bodies seemed to vaporize on the spot, leaving only empty shells.
"Nothing."
Bologue shook his head, not expecting his assault to be this effective. Unfortunately, he couldn’t use such a move too many times.
After resting, Bologue’s own ethereal amount was already at full capacity, and now having plundered the staff members’ ether, his Alchemy Matrix seemed on the verge of bursting, with floating glimmers dancing along the projected patterns.
"We should go." Bologue urged.
"Okay."
Furya hurried forward, continuously running on the hanging stairway, which seemed unused for years. Their steps made the stairway sway slightly, causing even the tightly fastened ashen shell to crack and fall off.
The clattering ashes fell like snow, with the swirling dust filtered out by the protective clothing’s respiratory valve, with heavy panting sounding one after another.
"We’re almost there."
The route in her memory started overlapping with reality, Furya said cheerfully.
Ever since meeting Bologue, she had a sense of crisis. This sense of crisis didn’t only come from Bologue’s evil spirit appearance but also from her sacrificed interests.
Furya knew well that this was a dangerous place. Bringing one more person meant one more burden, and she was afraid that Bologue would abandon her after using her. More so, afraid of being forsaken by Bologue without any value. Now she had proven her worth to Bologue.
The stairway extended endlessly in the dark, with ashes and sparks always falling, and the distant silent rumbling continued, the Forge Furnace Volcano rhythmically trembled like a giant’s beating heart.
Suddenly, Furya stopped.
"What’s wrong?" Bologue asked while looking into the darkness ahead.
A giant bronze wall rose from the ground, blocking their path.
"Something’s wrong..."
Furya muttered to herself, anxiously searching the surroundings of the stairway but couldn’t find any other paths. This was the end of the stairway.
"It’s gone!" Furya said anxiously, "The path is gone."
She nervously looked at Bologue. Since the chaos in the Ruins District began, Furya had seen such things before, human ugliness laid bare in desperate situations.
No matter how much Bologue had shared with her, it’s always hard to truly see someone. Perhaps this was Bologue’s disguise. Would he be furious? Or feel deceived by her?
Furya’s mind plunged into darkness, with overblown crisis feelings and conjectures growing in her mind. Furya was never truly mentally healthy, this extreme environment and distorted perception had already twisted her.
Just as her overwhelming crisis feeling made her consider acting first, Bologue spoke.
"Don’t be tense, Furya," Bologue said.
"You..."
Furya’s words halted, the protective clothing isolated their faces, and even the voices blurred. She didn’t know how Bologue sensed it.
"Relax, relax, I’m not your enemy, and this isn’t your fault." Bologue continued to comfort her.
Bologue couldn’t see Furya’s expression, but he had seen page after page of doodles and some haphazard and twisted words in Furya’s messy notes.
Furya indeed was a strong person, but this extreme environment had already twisted her heart and mind.
"Ha..."
Furya gasped heavily, not having noticed how terrible her previous thoughts were or how severe her physiological reaction was. The immense pressure nearly forced her to vomit.
"Your route is fine, the problem lies with it."
Bologue lowered his head, noticing that the broken ethereal line had reconnected at that moment. Following the direction of the silk, one could see that on the huge bronze wall in front of them, one security staff member after another stood silently.
The first person in the lead released the ethereal line, allowing it to stretch back into the corner.
"It wasn’t cut off," Bologue said softly, "It was just blocked from transmitting, and then it used this to find my location and set a trap."
Bologue puzzledly lifted his head, "You’re smarter than I thought."
As if to respond to Bologue, a rumbling sound emanated from the Forge Furnace Volcano, with the temperature rising once more.
The red flame was gradually replaced by pure white light, until the gap glowed with an endless hazy white.
"So, this is where you are."
Upon realizing that the hazy light appeared simultaneously in all spaces, Bologue wondered why there was no trace of it in the Forge Furnace Volcano area. It turned out it had always been there.
Existing within the Forge Furnace Volcano.
