Chapter 248: Chapter 234: Eternal Silence Corridor: Ascalon’s Fallen Royal Court
As his vision cleared, a salty sea breeze washed over him.
Ian opened his eyes. His first sensation was... "noise."
Countless waves of Energy mingled together, creating an almost tangible "noise."
It was as if dozens, even hundreds, of Witchcraft spells were brewing nearby, filling the air with a restless, agitated presence.
They stood on a massive stone platform.
The platform was suspended in mid-air. Below, the gray-blue sea churned, its waves crashing against the platform’s underside and sending up sprays of white foam.
And surrounding the platform...
"Gaa..." Gaga couldn’t help but let out a soft cry.
Ian also drew in a slow breath.
As far as the eye could see, dozens of similar platforms floated in a vast ring, spanning a stretch of sea more than ten kilometers wide.
Figures stood on every platform, clad in a variety of Long Robes and bearing different crests.
His gaze paused noticeably as it swept over the platform for the Shadow Moon Tower.
A pair of blood-red eyes locked onto Ian.
The Deep Red Royal Court. Blood Blade Bazaar.
On a more distant platform to the right, two points of spectral fire turned toward the Shadow Moon platform. On Ian’s shoulder, Gaga’s feathers bristled slightly.
The Withered Council. Silas the Dead Speaker.
Farther in the distance were the Silver Ring, the Tide Association, the Storm Hall...
And many more factions that Ian didn’t recognize at all.
Some Wizards rode enormous flying mounts, some stood on floating alchemical contraptions, and some were even entirely encased in writhing, fleshy armor.
Powerhouses were everywhere.
Ian could sense the auras of more than twenty Level Two Crystalized Wizards.
And the number of Level One Wizards... already exceeded five hundred.
"The Tide Association is made up of the Sea Race. They belong to the Wizard Alliance and generally won’t go out of their way to provoke us. The Storm Hall are also Alliance members, but they’re hot-tempered. Stay out of their way."
Herman’s voice rang out beside them.
"As for the other factions from the Outer Islands..."
A cold sneer touched his lips. "Remember, in here, you can’t trust anyone but yourselves."
His words had barely faded when, far out in the center of the sea, something strange began to happen.
The once-calm surface of the sea began to churn. Vast clouds of pale mist billowed up from the depths, spreading out as if they were alive.
Wherever the mist passed, the water grew viscous and dark, as if drained of all vitality.
At the same time, the sky began to grow dark.
There were no clouds; this was a deeper, more profound kind of gloom.
Light was being invisibly devoured. Though it was high noon, the sky rapidly grew dim.
Then, the stars appeared.
One by one, stars blinked into existence. Their positions were scattered chaotically across the sky, in complete defiance of logic.
Some hung so low they nearly skimmed the surface of the sea, others were suspended high overhead, and some even formed inverted constellations.
"An inverted Star Map..."
Herman muttered to himself, a grave expression appearing in his gray eyes for the first time.
"It’s beginning."
Gaga retracted its neck, its small eyes fixed nervously on the spreading mist.
"Ian... I’ve got a really bad feeling about this, gaga!"
Ian said nothing. He simply activated his Furnace Body Tempering Skill, and the Jade-like Radiance beneath his skin began to faintly glow.
In his Sea of Spirit, faint golden specks of Crystalization stirred to life, honing his Perception to its peak.
He could "see"—no, he could "feel"—
something rising from deep within the pale mist.
It wasn’t a physical entity, but the manifestation of a... "concept."
Death, despair, frozen Time, a shattered civilization...
"Stay sharp."
Herman raised a hand, and a silver light gathered at his fingertips.
"The Royal Court Gate is about to open. Once inside, whether you stick together or go your separate ways is up to you."
He didn’t get to finish.
In the center of the sea, where the mist was densest, the water suddenly caved in on itself.
A massive whirlpool, over a kilometer in diameter, formed in an instant, seawater spiraling madly as it was devoured by the Abyss below.
And from the center of the whirlpool, a pale structure was slowly ascending.
The first thing to break the surface was bone.
Pale bones, so enormous they defied imagination, like entire mountain ranges.
They intertwined, stacked, and twisted, forming the base of an inverted pyramid.
The skeleton was covered in the crystallized remains of buildings: fractured pillars, shattered arches, collapsed towers...
Everything had been "frozen" in the instant of its destruction by some unknown Power.
It was then crystalized, becoming a cold, grim decoration.
The entire structure radiated a suffocating aura of utter extinction.
When it had risen completely, it stood over three thousand meters tall.
At the base of the inverted pyramid, facing the center of the whirlpool, was a gate.
It was a twisted archway, pieced together from yet more bone and crystal.
The gate was shut tight, its surface covered in dark red markings that resembled dried blood.
In the very center of the gate was a massive, circular dial with forty-nine evenly spaced notches.
Its single hand pointed to zero.
"The Royal Court Gate... It’s opening for forty-nine marks again. That means forty-nine days in the real world."
Someone murmured.
The next second, the gate opened.
It swung inward, slowly and without a sound.
Beyond the gate lay a profound darkness,
and deep within it, one could faintly make out disordered corridors, floating staircases, and inverted fragments of buildings.
"Go!"
Herman barked as a silver light flared around him.
The seven people and one bird from the Shadow Moon Tower transformed into seven streaks of light, shooting toward the gate.
At the exact same moment, hundreds of figures on the surrounding platforms moved as one.
The crimson light of the Deep Red Royal Court, the gray mist of the Withered Council, the Holy Light of the Silver Ring, the blue aura of the Tide Association, the crackling lightning of the Storm Hall...
Hundreds of streaks of light tore through the dim sky, rushing like moths to a flame toward the colossal, pale gate that radiated death.
As he sped through the air, Ian glanced back.
Blood Blade Bazaar was glaring daggers at him, and the spectral flames from beneath the hood of Silas the Dead Speaker had also turned in his direction.
Comments