The residents of Stone Creek Town, armed with various weapons, looked fervently at the old man as if he was the object of their faith. If a sorcerer apprentice had been present, they would have noticed a special pattern in their eyes.
“Sacrifice!”
“To the almighty Great Sky Black Demon!”
At the old man’s command, the residents immediately echoed him, raising their longswords and other bladed weapons to strike at the magicalized wild beasts in front of them. These creatures, like puppets unaware of how to resist, were beheaded by the residents as easily as chopping carrots.
In an instant, the area was strewn with corpses and drenched in blood.
The blood was drawn towards the hillside, converging at the spot where the old man stood. Around him, runes outlined by the blood appeared, and a second later, flames ignited, setting the blood runes ablaze.
Under the firing flames, wisps of black smoke formed and drifted towards the Kanda magic stone mine.
“Sacrifice again.”
“To the almighty Great Sky Black Demon!”
A few minutes later, a second batch of magicalized wild beasts was beheaded, with more black smoke taking shape and continuing to transfer backward.
Inside the Kanda magic stone mine, a figure in a black robe could feel his power slowly growing stronger.
“Crack, crack, crack, this is truly a delicacy, no rush, the tastiest food should be saved for last.” The eerie laughter of the man in the black robe echoed through the small space, his eyes greedily staring at the barriers around as if he could see the prey trapped inside.
In one of the cages, Ivan snapped out of his deep thoughts, his brows furrowed, clearly facing a difficult problem.
Up to now, he had already used two doses of Light of Wisdom of level 2.
Driven by tripled comprehension and spirituality, he gained a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the peculiar sorcery array in front of him, which was undoubtedly a complex runes sorcery array, integrating many aspects.
It involved transforming magic stones into impure mental power, using mental power to bewitch and control other beings, and also collecting malice to convert it into impure mental power, among other things. In short, it was a sorcery array uniquely privileged in the initial conversion to mental power.
He speculated that it was the unique environment within the Kanda magic stone mine that had led to the birth of this unique runes sorcery array.
But this sorcery array was too complex, containing too many elements, giving him a feeling of not knowing where to start. After all, there was not much time left, allowing no room for slow contemplation.
On one side, Heidi was similarly in distress, her face clouded with worry.
Seeing both their expressions, Cooke, who had been occasionally checking on them, felt his heart sink. This time, if nothing unexpected happened, they were probably doomed.
“How is it going?”
Just as both of them had looked up, Cooke hurriedly asked.
“Not good.” Heidi spoke softly.
“Difficult.” Ivan gently shook his head.
At that moment, the glow on the Array Plate in front of them brightened a bit, but it was still far from being fully activated. At this rate, it was very difficult to truly activate it, unless they were willing to risk the danger of breaking the Array Plate by forcibly activating it.
Both knew that if they dared to activate it forcibly, there was a great chance that the Raw Stone Array Disc would simply disintegrate, leaving nothing behind.
After answering Cooke, they exchanged a look but didn’t talk much further, lowering their heads again to continue their contemplation.
This time, Ivan was prepared to use the Light of Great Wisdom.
He already had an idea in mind, and like on Lahr Island, regardless of the complexity of the runes sorcery array, he was only seeking a way to solve the problem by combining what he had learned before to find a means to leverage the barriers around him.
As for the rest, they should all be ignored, as preserving his own life was most important.
“It’s over.”
Upon hearing their responses, Cooke squatted down in front of the Black Wind Barrier, his eyes mixed with a hint of disappointment and despair.
Unknown to him, on the opposite side of the Black Wind Barrier, a face was just peering over and seeing this scene, revealing a mocking smile. Your journey continues on empire
“Crack, crack, crack, these two self-proclaimed smart fools, wait to fall into despair.”
The robed man certainly had reason to mock the two; after decades of comprehension and the aid of the special aura produced by the magic stone mine over the years, he had laid out something which they hoped to comprehend in mere minutes—an evidently delusional notion.
The result was nothing more than increasing despair as they attempted to understand, ultimately enveloped by the fear of death.
This way, he could harvest two even more delectable meals.
The robed man no longer focused on the two but rather surveyed his own realm like a ranch owner inspecting his property.
Time ticked by second by second.
While Ivan and the other were comprehending the Raw Stone Array Disc, Wolban continually tested the barriers until he was utterly exhausted.
Sulla showed no signs of abnormality; he was waiting for an opportunity, for everyone to strike back together.
Melinda and Allen were weary and wary of each other, both sustaining injuries with Allen’s being more severe—a result of Melinda’s mercy as she was not yet willing to kill him.
“Sacrifice.”
Outside Stone Creek Town, the sacrifice of the magicalized wild beasts proceeded round after round, leaving only shriveled corpses.
Yet, the voice of the old man above did not cease.
“Great Sky Black Demon supreme!”
The residents remained fanatical without hesitation, slicing open their wrists and letting the fresh red blood flow freely.
The blood eventually gathered on the hillside, burned into black smoke, and drifted into Kanda magic stone mine, flowing through a hidden passage to where the robed man was.
…
Swamp Forest City.
One crisis after another had left Simmons, the City Lord, overwhelmed.
Hours ago, someone reported that the corpse of an apprentice locked up in the cells had mysteriously disappeared, enraging Simmons greatly.
After a thorough investigation, he uncovered the true nature of the events; it turned out there was a traitor among the prison guards. After some struggle, the traitor was captured and temporarily imprisoned.
Soon, another subordinate reported that there was trouble at the prison, the reporting guard’s words were ominous.
“Come, follow me to see.”
Simmons was not inclined to fuss over this minor issue, as long as the guards did not betray him, all was well.
Accompanied by his eldest son Nelsey, he returned to the prison to find many previously frenzied civilians now kneeling on the ground, eyes closed, muttering some lengthy curses, and the bound traitorous guard, despite his bodily pain, awkwardly bowed in the same direction.
One of them, due to excessive motion, had twisted his own leg bone, but he didn’t seem to care at all.
The sight chilled those outside the cell.
“Matthew, what are you doing, get up now!” Nelsey shouted at his younger brother, who was also kneeling.
However, Matthew did not even flicker an eyelid.
“Get up! All of you stand up.”
“This City Lord commands you to stand, no kneeling, no kneeling!”
Seeing this scene, Simmons always felt a major disaster was looming; he roared out orders, even using his Combat Energy, trying to awaken these strangely behaving people.
No matter how he yelled, the people inside seemed deaf to his words; in their eyes, there was no City Lord any longer.
Seeing this, Simmons ordered people to go in and pull them up; however, those inside the cell became agitated and began biting, resulting in injuries to two guards unexpectedly.
Then another person came to report that other residents in the city were also kneeling in the same direction; Simmons’s ominous premonition grew stronger, and he could only order that all these people be captured immediately.