novelraw Chapter 520 - 510: Breaking Down in Tears
Chapter 520 - 510: Breaking Down in Tears
Number Four initially wanted to roll away, but found itself frozen in place.
It tried to kick the Elemental Lord with its massive short legs, but as soon as it extended them, it was frozen before it could touch the opponent.
Though the extreme cold couldn’t kill the resilient giant beast Puki, it trapped it in place.
Number Four decided quickly, and while its tentacles were still movable, reached into its belly and pulled out Inanna, throwing her vigorously into the distance.
Inanna had been kept inside the whole time, unaware of what was changing outside, only knowing that it was getting colder around her.
Suddenly thrown out, she rolled twice on the ground to steady herself, then looked up to see a pale blue figure floating in front of her.
The Frost Elemental Lord extended its fingers, formed from ice crystals, and gently cupped Inanna’s cheeks.
Upon touch, frost rapidly spread over Inanna’s body.
At that moment, Inanna could clearly see the opponent’s visage—a face smooth as a mirror, devoid of features, a frosty lady with shimmering dots in her chest, exuding a supernatural grace and cold death.
The cold white mist surged, completely engulfing Inanna.
...
Pink Puki!
Although it had been warned of danger, Lin Jun still felt a bit guilty seeing Pink Puki turned into an ice sculpture for helping him.
Fortunately, Lin Jun had prepared ahead, having already salvaged the stone tablet from the lake bottom...
No!
This isn’t the time to think about such things.
Lin Jun, how can you wallow in sadness, the urgent thing now is to think about how to transport the ice sculpture of Pink Puki to the fungal mat...
Hmm?
Pink Puki, why is your panel still up?
A new line appeared in the status bar:
[Blessing of Frost]
The encompassing frost mist gradually dissipated.
Inanna was now clothed in an attire formed from ice crystals, a long gown styled just like that of the Elemental Lord, light and elegant without any heft.
Inanna’s [Cold Resistance] wasn’t enhanced, but all the coldness was absorbed by the long gown, serving as an extra membrane.
The Elemental Lord hovered around Inanna, occasionally touching her cheek with its crystalline fingers, the movements gentle.
Two high-tier Cold Spirits, Snow Attendant and Frost Knight, finally broke free of thorns and chased over.
At this moment, Snow Attendant and Frost Knight broke free from the blood spikes and chased after, but could only stop ten meters away, begrudgingly watching the Elemental Lord alone with Inanna.
Number Four broke apart the frozen sections on its body, regenerating as it clumsily stood up, watching this harmonious scene, tilting its massive mushroom cap:
"Um... is it still necessary to fight?"
...
The invading Blood Race had all been dealt with, Lin Jun entrusted Inanna to the Cold Spirits, and they all gathered at a corner of the ruins.
Except for some unlucky Cold Spirits who missed the opportunity to attend, the entire ruins posed no threat anymore.
The rescue work was next.
Inside spiral structures, many corridors and rooms had collapsed, with many Fungus Castle soldiers buried under rubble and ice shards.
Fortunately, after symbiosis with mycelium, everyone’s life force was doubled, unless they were immediately unlucky enough to be killed, they wouldn’t die from those injuries easily.
With the sensing from the connected fungal network, no one would be overlooked in the rescue.
After two days of rescue efforts, all surviving soldiers were retrieved.
However, over seventy soldiers had heroically fallen for the fungal mat, marking the largest casualty event since Fungus Castle’s establishment.
A small interlude occurred during Lin Jun’s tearful decomposition.
Most souls decomposed smoothly like slippery eels, eluding Lin Jun’s grasp.
But this time, an exception happened, a soul, after being sucked dry, didn’t immediately merge into the world; it lingered on Lin Jun’s soul surface for two seconds before detaching and vanishing.
Though brief, Lin Jun couldn’t do much, but this anomaly did catch his attention.
What made this guy special?
Lin Jun investigated the deceased half-demon.
He was originally a slave from a medium-sized tribe, which, due to the temperature drop, had been recruited by Fungus Castle, and he followed suit.
And since Fungus Castle didn’t need such a slave system, he gained freedom, then voluntarily enlisted in Fungus Castle, trained for several months under Little Pig.
In short, an ordinary soldier with no family or place to send condolence money.
But... there was nothing special about this.
Similar experiences were common in Fungus Castle, and he himself had no special skills, couldn’t possibly have some hidden half-demon lineage, could he?
Due to a lack of further clues, this matter was tentatively set aside; after all, the ruins affairs were unfinished.
...
The primary issue was undeniably this Elemental Lord.
As the root cause of continued cooling in the Northern Territory, directly eliminating it would be ideal, but its current obsession with Pink Puki seemed to make it somewhat of an ally—a usable power.
A direct surprise attack might work, but seemed wasteful no matter how you looked at it.
If left unchecked, it’s unsure when the cold wave would spiral out of control, causing greater disasters.
Furthermore, these soulless beings only exhibited calmness near Inanna; if she leaves, they would still attack, Inanna couldn’t always stay here as an anchor.
The Yellow-covered Book volunteered a suggestion:
[Boss, use a seal!]
"Do you have a magic array capable of sealing this level of Elemental Spirit?"
[I don’t have one ready]
"Then you’re toying with me?"
[I wouldn’t dare! What I mean is, I don’t have it but I know where you can find one!]
[Boss, don’t we still have a gateway to the dwarven Molten Fire Dungeon?]
[Dwarves once sealed that Elemental Lord for hundreds of years!]
[Let me study the damaged sealing structure, and I should be able to replicate a similar one!]
"Magic Array Master?"
Two book pages rubbed awkwardly:
[Hehe, I only picked up a few tricks from my former master]
Lin Jun didn’t immediately agree, but this was certainly a viable option.
Besides relying on the Yellow-covered Book, he considered leveraging Inanna’s identity in the Human Kingdom to request sealing technology directly from the Dwarves.
Although the chance of success seemed small, it was worth a try.
After listing the Elemental Lord’s plans on the agenda, the last significant matter in the ruins remained—treasure!
Combat Puppets were one aspect, troops already accompanied two dwarves for forging factory re-exploration, no threat from Cold Spirits now, allowing careful searches.
Regardless of research-worthy Combat Puppets, or valuable scrolls, all were collected and carried out.
The dwarf named Tolin was busy with glee, Lin Jun even suspected he would willingly pay to work.
The other treasure was the scroll brought by the Vampire Marquis!
Casinar’s mouth was still tight, Lin Jun and the Yellow-covered Book patiently enlightened him in a hidden chamber for three days, until he finally opened up, revealing everything.
Following the guidance, the subordinates excavated a still intact room from the ruins.
This room had originally been situated on the upper level of the building’s core area, but had fallen due to structural collapse, yet miraculously remained intact, showcasing its distinctiveness.
On the room’s door were intricate magic power engravings, forming a sophisticated combination lock. A Puki placed its tentacles on the surface, following the sheepskin scroll’s instructions, lighting the nodes in the engravings in a specific order.
Once the last rune lit up, the door slowly slid open inward, revealing a heap of items inside.