Chapter 208: Using That Trick Again
Even Ambrose, who considered himself widely traveled and well informed, had never seen a sight like this before.
Chunks of land of all different sizes floated in every direction, some bearing mountains and rivers, others lakes, volcanoes, or vast cave systems. There were even shattered, half-ruined cities scattered among them.
Each fragment was oriented differently. Some were upside down; others slowly rotated through the void. Yet the creatures living on those fragments seemed completely unaffected, just as people standing on the surface of a planet never notice its rotation.
The floating lands were not entirely isolated from one another, either. Occasionally, two fragments would drift close enough that their inhabitants could fire projectiles across the gap. Most simply hurled objects through the air, though whether they were fighting a battle or conducting some sort of cross-platform trade was impossible to tell.
Such a bizarre world... Could this be the divine realm of the prankster god Nalskiach?
Catherine looked just as astonished. Even the ancient records of the elves contained no mention of a place like this.
Ambrose was about to fly toward another floating fragment when he discovered a problem. After rising a few hundred meters into the air, a strange force seized him and prevented him from flying any higher.
Catherine encountered the same resistance. Even when the two of them combined their magic, they could not break through the invisible barrier.
Ambrose stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It seems that every one of these land fragments is its own miniature world."
"So what do we do now?" Catherine asked anxiously.
If they couldn't leave this place, even if Naomi awakened and returned them to their original time, they might end up trapped here instead of returning to the underground ruins.
Catherine had no desire to spend the rest of her life living in this place alongside those disgusting splaad.
Ambrose, on the other hand, remained calm. He was certain that the only reason he was here at all was the handiwork of the Goddess of Fate. Surely she hadn't gone through all that trouble only to trap an immortal lich in a shattered world where he would be forced to discuss philosophy with the splaad.
There had to be a way out. They simply needed to find it.
Because Ambrose remained clear-headed, he quickly came up with an idea.
"I doubt the fusion of those two worlds earlier was an accident," he said to Catherine. "Someone might have deliberately connected those fragments to our world. If these shattered dimensions can be manipulated at will, then we can probably return via the same method.
Catherine nodded slowly. The explanation made sense. She realized she had been panicking too quickly. That wasn't what seasoned adventurers would do.
"But... would there really be anyone living in that swamp?" she asked.
"Not people, of course," Ambrose replied. "Other intelligent creatures usually can't survive where the splaad live. And don't assume those toads are mindless. Only the red splaad are relatively stupid. The other colors are about as intelligent as ordinary people. And if we're unlucky enough to run into a black splaad..." He shrugged. "We probably wouldn't even get the chance to run."
The splaad possessed a very peculiar evolutionary and reproductive cycle.
The most basic type was the red splaad. Their eggs matured inside various hosts and eventually hatched into either blue splaad or green splaad. Blue splaad were powerful warriors with hooked claws sharper and tougher than most weapons. Green splaad, on the other hand, hatched from the bodies of spellcasters and became capable magic users themselves.
Blue splaad could also spread a chaotic infection with their claws, transforming living creatures directly into new splaad. Depending on the host's traits, the victim would become either a red splaad or a green splaad.
It sounded complicated, but these three colors were merely the cannon fodder of splaad society.
The truly dangerous stage began with the evolution of green splaad. Because they hatched from spellcasters, green splaad possessed high intelligence. Upon mastering a certain secret technique, they would evolve into gray splaad. At that stage they stood at the threshold of the legendary realm, and some would even transform into legends directly.
But that still wasn't the end of the line.
Beyond the gray splaad came the death splaad, the white splaad, and finally the black splaad.
Black splaad were the lords of their kind, and they possessed quasi-divine power.
What did that mean? The lords of the various layers of hell were considered quasi-divine: beings powerful enough to stand as enemies of true gods.
That was why Ambrose had said that, if they encountered a black splaad, even the two of them together wouldn't stand a chance.
It was unlikely they would be that unlucky, though. What kind of splaad lord would be exiled into a fragmented world like this?
Ambrose and Catherine descended back into the swamp. The moment they landed, another swarm of splaad surrounded them. Most were red, with the occasional blue warrior mixed in. Only one green splaad among about a dozen stood watching them, its throat swelling as it croaked repeatedly.
Ambrose raised both hands and addressed the green splaad. "We're just passing through. Could we perhaps speak with your lord?"
The green splaad was intelligent enough to understand him. But instead of negotiating, it raised its staff and began forming a fireball the size of a human head.
Ambrose sighed. A flash of magical red light shot out from his hand and struck the creature precisely, interrupting the spell.
Counterspells were the most common anti-magic technique, rarely effective against powerful casters but devastating against weaker ones.
A legendary mage could easily overwhelm a green splaad.
The green splaad's spell collapsed, leaving it gasping for breath. Meanwhile, the other splaad lunged at Ambrose and Catherine from all directions.
Ambrose was prepared. Twin anti-magic blades sprang from his arms as he plunged into the swarm like a whirlwind.
Catherine had learned her lesson as well. Fighting these disgusting creatures in melee was a terrible idea. Instead, she cast Flight, rose into the air, and began raining down arrows of light.
An elven queen drawing her bow at full strength had the destructive power of a mage.
Ambrose had barely slain three splaad with his blades before Catherine's arrows pinned the remaining fodder to the ground.
The battle lasted less than ten seconds. Only the green splaad remained alive.
Ambrose walked up to the plump green toad, sliced its staff in half, and pressed the tip of his blade against its throat. "Now," he said calmly, "can we talk?"
The green splaad croaked nervously. "What do you want with our lord?"
Ambrose smiled. "That's not something you need to know. Either lead us to him, or I kill you right now. Your choice."
The green splaad sneered. "You're just a piece of scrap metal. Let me speak with your master!"
Ambrose: "..."
With a sharp thrust, the anti-magic blade pierced the creature's throat, slicing away half its head.
Ambrose reached out and seized its escaping soul in his hand. With practiced ease, he unraveled it strand by strand to examine the creature's memories.
If the splaad had possessed even a little more intelligence—enough to recognize who was actually in charge—it might not have died so quickly. Ambrose had no interest in negotiating with fools.
It didn't have many useful memories. Although the splaad had human-level intelligence, life in this swamp was extremely primitive. Their daily routine consisted of eating, excreting, reproducing, and then eating and excreting again.
Still, Ambrose found the answer he wanted. The lord of this swamp was a gray splaad, not a more powerful death, white, or black splaad.
The gray splaad didn't seem to possess any particularly extraordinary abilities, either. Even though it was a legend, Ambrose felt confident he could still suppress it.
More importantly, the splaad were able to manipulate spatial links. They couldn't do so reliably, but whenever they needed hosts for reproduction, they would open temporary links to other worlds and invade.
With the target identified, there was no need to be polite.
Ambrose cast Leyla's True Illusion on himself and Catherine, transforming them into a red and a blue splaad, as they began moving deeper into the swamp.
The illusion perfectly replicated the appearance of the splaad, allowing them to travel through the swamp without provoking any attacks.
Unfortunately, Ambrose had underestimated the creatures.
It wasn't that the illusion was flawed. Rather, splaad society had surprisingly strict hierarchical boundaries. As soon as they approached the deeper regions of the swamp, a group of splaad rushed over croaking angrily and tried to drive them away.
These creatures seemed to retain some sort of territorial instinct. Only high-ranking splaad were allowed near the central area; the rest had to remain by the outskirts.
"What do we do now?" Catherine asked. "Could you disguise us as green splaad?"
Ambrose shook his head. "No. We've only seen one green splaad."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Catherine said. "Can't you just tweak the illusion a little?"
Ambrose explained patiently, "You're still thinking of splaad as mindless beasts. Imagine if these splaad were Lyon citizens. If I could transform perfectly into the Silvermoon Knight, that might be fine, but if I slightly altered his features in the process, what would Lyon citizens think if they came across me?"
Catherine paused. "I... see the problem."
"Every bump and wart on a splaad's body is unique. To us they might look identical, but to the splaad each individual is unmistakable. If we ‘tweak' the illusion randomly, they'll spot the deception immediately."
"So what now?" Catherine asked impatiently. "Do we just fight our way in?"
Ambrose waved dismissively. "No need. I'll make you invisible with illusion magic. I'll transform into a green splaad and walk in normally. Follow me."
Catherine: "..."
Catherine stared at him. "...Then why didn't you just turn us invisible from the start?"
"Because I needed time to practice how to move as a splaad. Were you planning on storming in, capturing the splaad lord, and forcing it to open a spatial passage? What if it refuses? Are you going to kill it? Soul-memory extraction isn't perfectly reliable. What if his soul ascends to the splaad divine realm? They probably have one... I think. My plan is to secretly learn how it controls these spatial links, not charge in and start a fight."
Catherine suddenly understood. Her eyes lit up. "You're going to use that trick again?!"
Ambrose blinked. "Which trick?"
"The one where you transform into another race and start scamming people. Every time you do it, you either abduct a princess or swindle millions of gold. This time... are you planning to kidnap a splaad princess and make her work for you?!"
