Chapter 255: Chapter 238: Corridor Maze and Silver Ring
The pale staircase spiraled downward, extending into a deeper darkness.
Ian’s footsteps landed, and the surface of the steps made a faint rustling sound, like treading on dry bone dust.
The surrounding walls were no longer made of Memory Material, but had turned into a dark gray rock.
The rock’s surface was covered in fine cracks, and deep within them, a faint, dark blue light flowed, like frozen blood vessels.
"The second level... the Corridor Maze."
Ian stopped and glanced ahead.
At the end of the staircase was a massive space, nearly a hundred meters high and boundlessly wide.
Countless passages radiated out from the center like a spiderweb.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of the same dark gray rock.
The entrance to every passage was identical, with no markings whatsoever.
Only whispers, a mixture of death and madness, filled the air, drifting between the passages like the wind.
"Ian, the third passage on the left..."
Gaga crouched on his shoulder, its small eyes fixed in that direction, its feathers slightly puffed up.
"Something is... calling."
Ian followed its gaze.
At the entrance to the passage, a pale white, misty silhouette was slowly coalescing.
It had no fixed form, floating in midair like a jellyfish, its surface constantly showing blurry faces, severed limbs, and flashes of explosions.
An Echo Mirage Spirit.
A product of materialized memory pollution, it actively attacked living beings, assaulting their consciousness with the "echoes" of a person’s final moments.
"We’ll go around it," Ian ordered succinctly.
He raised his right hand, his five fingers forming a loose grip.
A black dot the size of a rice grain appeared in his palm and silently floated toward the misty silhouette.
BZZZT!
The moment the Gravity Singularity touched the Mirage Spirit, the surrounding air warped violently.
The misty silhouette trembled violently, trying to flee, but the Gravity Field had already locked it firmly in place.
POP.
A soft, crisp sound.
The Mirage Spirit was compressed into a white ball of light the size of a fist, then collapsed inward, annihilated, and vanished completely.
Even the whispers of death in the surroundings weakened somewhat.
"Let’s go." Ian retracted his hand and chose the seventh passage on the right.
This passage was the narrowest, less than two meters wide, but the dark blue light on its walls was the densest.
His Spiritual Perception told him that the spatial structure here was relatively stable, and the contamination from the "echoes" was the lightest.
The man and bird walked into the passage.
Their footsteps echoed in the narrow space, only to be swiftly devoured by some kind of power, fading into an eerie silence.
Deep within the cracks on the walls, the dark blue light flowed slowly, as if alive.
Ian reached out and touched the rock wall.
It was cold and hard, but his fingertips could feel an extremely faint energy pulse.
Like some kind of distorted Star Energy.
"Ruins of the Star Spirit Race..." he muttered to himself.
After walking for about half an hour, a fork appeared in the path ahead.
Three passages split off in a "Y" shape, each with a different symbol carved at its entrance.
The entrance to the left passage was carved with a waning silver moon, the right with three intersecting lightning bolts, and the middle with a simple circle.
’There are tracks,’ Ian thought, his gaze hardening.
He crouched down to examine the ground.
The tracks in the dust were fresh, no more than a day old at most.
And there was more than one group.
At the entrance to the left passage, there were three pairs of footprints. The boot patterns were standard-issue, and the strides were evenly spaced, like a well-trained team.
At the entrance to the right passage, there was only one pair of footprints, so light they had almost faded away.
The middle passage...
Ian’s gaze fell upon the circular symbol.
’The mark of the Silver Ring.’
He stood up and was about to walk toward the middle passage.
Suddenly, "Halt."
A voice came from deep within the passage, cold and filled with unquestionable arrogance.
Ian stopped, his right hand falling naturally to his side.
Three figures emerged from the shadows.
All were dressed in matching silver-white long robes with gold trim, wearing badges of the Silver Ring on their chests.
Their leader was a man of about thirty with a stern face and meticulously combed short blond hair.
He held a silver-white Magic Staff in his left hand, its head inlaid with a fist-sized, pale blue crystal that emanated pure waves of light.
"This area is under the control of my Silver Ring."
The man’s gaze swept over Ian, his eyes filled with scrutiny and a hint of disdain.
"A Lone Wanderer? State your organization and your purpose here."
The two team members behind him took positions to his left and right, their hands resting on their waists.
On the left was a young Witch, her features delicate but her eyes sharp. Silver threads danced between the fingers of her right hand.
On the right was a burly, heavyset man over two meters tall.
His exposed arms were covered in Runes, and his knotted muscles radiated a dangerous aura.
"Shadow Moon Tower, Ian Marcus," Ian replied calmly.
"Just passing through."
"Passing through?"
A cold smirk touched the man’s lips.
"The Corridor Maze is a complex labyrinth. Every passage leads to a different area, and you just ’happen’ to be passing through the Core Passage controlled by my Silver Ring?"
He took a step forward and tapped his Magic Staff lightly on the ground.
HUMMM!
A pale silver halo of light spread out, enveloping a twenty-meter radius around him.
A Compound Witchcraft combining Detect Lies and Energy Suppression.
Ian could feel the ambient energy around him turn sluggish, as if it had sunk into a thick mire.
"Like I said, just passing through."
He repeated himself, his tone unchanging.
His left hand was in the pocket of his Wizard Robe, his fingertips gently stroking the Ring of Overlapping Peaks.
Inside his right sleeve, thirty-six Floating Crystal Cones had silently moved into position.
"Captain Liam, should we..." the young Witch asked in a low voice, the silver threads between her fingers pulling tighter.
Liam didn’t answer immediately.
He stared at Ian for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.
"Shadow Moon Tower... I recall your team leader this time is Herman, isn’t it? That old geezer has some skills, but it’s a shame his team is full of worthless hacks."
He raised his Magic Staff and pointed it at Ian.
"I’ll give you two choices."
"First, hand over your Dimension Ring and submit to a search. If we confirm you haven’t stolen any intelligence from my Silver Ring, we’ll let you go."
"Second..."
Liam’s eyes turned cold.
"We ’escort’ you out."
As he finished speaking, the burly man behind him took a step forward.
The ground trembled slightly.
One by one, the Runes on his burly frame lit up, emitting a scorching heat.
’A Body Refining Wizard approaching Level Two, and one who specializes in close combat.’
Ian’s expression remained calm.
He didn’t even glance at the burly man, his gaze fixed on Liam’s face.
"And what if I choose a third option?" he asked.
"A third?" Liam frowned.
Ian raised his right hand, fingers spread.
Above his palm, a black dot the size of a rice grain appeared without a sound.
The surrounding light began to distort, the air emitted a low hum, and dust on the ground stirred without a wind, slowly drifting toward the black dot’s center.
Liam’s pupils contracted sharply.
He could feel the fluctuations emanating from that black dot... They were dangerous.
Extremely dangerous!
"You..."
He had just uttered a single word.
Ian gently closed his fist.
The black dot vanished.
In its place, three energy threads as fine as hairs burst from his palm.
Icy blue and golden-red spiraled together, forming a pale violet beam of light that tore through the air.
But it wasn’t aimed at Liam.
It shot toward the rock wall thirty meters behind him.
CHSS!
The moment the beam hit the rock wall, it expanded abruptly.
VWOOM!
A pale violet domain with a five-meter radius erupted into existence.
The Entropy Change Domain!
Within the Domain, the surface of the dark gray rock was simultaneously covered in frost and scorch marks.
Extreme cold and searing heat alternated in milliseconds, rapidly embrittling and disintegrating the rock’s structure with a teeth-grinding CRACKLE.
A few seconds later, the Domain dissipated.
A concave crater, three meters in diameter and three meters deep, was left in the rock wall.
The crater’s edge was as smooth as a mirror, one half coated in thick ice crystals, the other half melted into a dark red, glassy substance.
"..."
Liam’s face was ashen.
The silver threads between the young Witch’s fingers behind him trembled slightly.
The light from the Runes on the burly man’s body also dimmed somewhat.
"Now," Ian said, retracting his hand and fixing his gaze on Liam’s face once more.
"May I ’pass through’ now?"
His tone was still calm, as if he were stating some trivial matter.
But there was no warmth in his black eyes.
Only an almost mechanical indifference.
Liam gritted his teeth, his knuckles white as he gripped his Magic Staff.
He could feel that if that beam of light had been aimed at him...
’I wouldn’t have been able to block it.’
’Even with my Light Shield, even with my teammates’ support, I absolutely could not have blocked it!’
’That bizarre Domain of Interweaving Ice and Fire could directly dismantle an Energy Structure.’
’What was even more terrifying was that from the moment he raised his hand to the moment he released the spell, the entire process took less than half a second.’
’Witchcraft with Domain properties?! That’s the hallmark of Level Two Witchcraft.’
’The most horrifying part... it was an instantly cast Level Two Witchcraft!’
"Who... Who in the world are you?" Liam asked hoarsely.
"Ian Marcus," Ian repeated.
"Shadow Moon Tower, Level One Wizard."
He took a step forward.
Liam subconsciously retreated, holding his Magic Staff horizontally across his chest.
The two team members behind him tensed up as well, as if facing a formidable enemy.
But Ian didn’t attack.
He simply walked past the three of them calmly, heading deeper into the middle passage.
His pace was unhurried, as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
As he passed by Liam, he suddenly stopped.
"Oh, right."
Ian turned his head to look at Liam.
"What do you know about the ’Royal Court Core Area’?"
The color drained from Liam’s face.
"You... How did you know..."
"A guess," Ian interrupted him.
"You mentioned the ’Core Passage’ earlier. The energy pulse in this passage is the most stable, and its directionality is the clearest. It must lead to an important area."
He paused.
"If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to."
"But don’t get in my way."
Those final words were spoken softly, yet they carried an undeniable chill.
Cold sweat beaded on Liam’s forehead.
He stared intently at Ian, his mind frantically weighing the pros and cons.
’Fight?’
’The power of that beam far exceeded the scope of an ordinary Level One Wizard.’
’Not to mention he probably has other trump cards up his sleeve.’
’Don’t fight?’
’Just let an outsider swagger into an area controlled by the Silver Ring?’
"Captain..." the young Witch prompted in a low voice, her eyes filled with unease.
Liam took a deep breath.
"The Royal Court Core Area is in the deepest part of the maze."
He gritted his teeth, each word seeming to be squeezed from between them.
"There’s a vein of ’Fallen Star Marrow’ there, and also... the ruins of the ’Flame of Civilization’."
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