novelraw Chapter 547: 65 Where Hope Lies
Chapter 547: 65 Where Hope Lies
Chapter 547: Chapter 65 Where Hope Lies
However, to their disappointment, despite the myriad cracks appearing on the tower as if it was about to crumble at any moment after the assault of the Meteor Burst, it ultimately persisted and did not collapse.
At the same time, this attack seemed to have enraged the cultists within the tower.
After the body of the tower shook slightly, several cultists exuding High Rank auras rapidly rushed out from within the tower, beginning to search everywhere for external enemies.
Then, a mass the size of several hundred meters, resembling a chaotic and indeterminate clump, squeezed its way out from the main gate of the tower.
The nightmare-like pitch-black body surged, carrying a loathsome noise similar to sludge stirring in a drain and moved towards the attackers, defying gravity in a frenzied rush.
Unlike the previous bizarre flying dragons with high speed and destructive power, this clump-shaped bizarre aggregate flew at only a moderate speed, but it bore an extremely strong spiritual contamination.
A few Spellcasters, who merely set their gaze upon it, felt their Spirit Seas suddenly filled with waves of mad whispers and notes.
This was exceptionally fatal for Magic Users; once their Spirit Sea was contaminated, it was very difficult for them to clear the abnormal status, let alone to cast precisely guided spells.
The world in their Perception began to violently change; the sky swiftly turned towards night, and the ground around them, the broken buildings, the collapsed statues… everything in their sight began to spew out a large amount of dark green viscous mud-like substance, as if to pull them into the depths and utterly corrupt them.
Even though they rationally understood that all of this was false, an Illusion Technique by the enemy, they still could not extricate themselves.
Forcibly suppressing the abnormalities in their Spirit Seas and activating various Magic Artifacts to preserve life, they barely regained clarity and the several Spellcasters quickly scattered and fled.
The strength of the enemy had far exceeded their imagination. They had now abandoned their plan to continue the assault and prepared to regroup with the main forces to establish a defense line and survive these seven days.
While fleeing for their lives, they activated the Magic Items they carried, attempting to create some trouble for it and delay its speed.
But its Magic Resistance was astonishingly high; several Seventh Rank spells such as Dissociation Technique, Yang Flame Burst, Withering Curse, and a myriad of other spells caused only insignificant damage to the black clump.
Very soon, two Warriors and one Spellcaster fleeing nearby, due to their lower strength and even with all their trump cards played, were inevitably overtaken in succession.
In the final despairing screams, the abnormalities in their own Spirit Seas erupted completely, their bodies breaking out with numerous pustules and squirming pink flesh sprouts, before being swallowed by the giant clump.
However, thanks to their comrades’ ‘cover,’ the remaining two Spellcasters briefly escaped the enemy’s line of sight, then swiftly performed disguises, duplications, and other actions using Secret Magic Tools.
As veteran Spellcasters, perhaps their direct siege ability was comparable, each with its own pros and cons when compared to the same rank in the War Profession System, but they especially had a large number of Magic Items for preserving life.
After spending some time, they successfully shook off the enemy’s pursuit and escaped back to the base of the Temporary Alliance.
“How is the situation?”
Upon knowing that the two had returned, Princess Starlight immediately put down what she was doing and began to inquire about their situation.
“…The power of the previously encountered abhorrent Dragon Beast was still within our ability to combat, but after we covertly eliminated it using Superposition Magic, the Chaos Fusion Monster that appeared afterward was beyond our power to stop.
It carried an extremely strong psychic contamination. Moreover, its Magic Resistance was so high that Seventh Rank spells from all systems had very weak effects on it; with just our strength, it was nearly impossible to contend with!”
At this moment, the two reported their previous exploration experience, their tone laden with a thick sense of pessimism.
“We must find a way to hold this ground.”
“Every existence has its weaknesses; there is no such thing as a truly perfect entity.”
After listening to the report of the two, Third Princess Starlight frowned, rejecting their pessimistic comments.
She had to do so; otherwise, letting the message spread within the base that the enemy was utterly unstoppable would only lead to instability among the people.
“There’s no need to panic. In a moment, I will seek assistance from Lord Reginald Sims, asking him to help prophesy the enemy’s weaknesses.”
As she spoke, she sent the two to join others in setting up the Magic Defensive Array, while she quickly returned to her dwelling.
She needed to call for assistance from her Prophet, even though each time he acted, his price was extremely high; however, Princess Starlight could no longer care about that now.
With a look of respect, she knocked on the door of the Seventh Rank Prophet Reginald Sims’ residence, who had accompanied her into the Radiant Secret Realm.
No response came from within the room, and after knocking several more times, the Third Princess, overwhelmed by an ominous premonition, hesitated no longer and burst through the door.
As soon as she pushed open the door, a pungent purple smoke drifted out, causing her to squint and wave her hand in front of her face.
The floor inside was in disarray, with a deactivated Prophecy Array, shattered Crystal Ball fragments, runes drawn with unidentified blood, and scattered strange tarot cards all over the place.
The disheveled Prophet Sims sat blankly in the middle of the mess, with a stone bowl emitting a dense pale blue luminescence in front of him. Even the sudden opening of the door did not elicit any reaction from him.
“Lord Sims? What happened here?”
Seeing the old prophet in his current state, Princess Starlight’s sense of impending doom grew even heavier.
Hearing Princess Starlight’s question, the old prophet dully turned his head to look at her, his grey-white eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
“We’re doomed.”
“???”
The first words of the other party almost made Princess Starlight choke.
“Before we entered the Radiant Secret Realm, my prophecy was misled. Now, the only visions I can see are of death and nothing else. There is no escape; we’re all doomed!”
Seemingly sensing Princess Starlight’s disbelief, Sims added numbly.
“How could this be? Is there no chance of escape?”
Forcing herself to calm down, the Third Princess immediately asked about ways to survive.
After all, she was not a prophet and did not fully believe the so-called inevitable fate pronounced by the old prophet.
“Hope? I would like to know as well. Since we entered this city, premonitions of death have been coming incessantly, getting closer and closer. Even fleeing would be futile.
My prophetic ability only allows me to hear the footsteps of the Death God all too clearly; it’s approaching, and it won’t be more than a day.”
With a smile uglier than weeping, the old prophet pointed to the stone bowl in front of him, its contents resembling a liquid and glowing blue mist.
“Before the countdown reaches its end, if there is a miracle, its color will change to green and tell me what to do …”
However, before Princess Starlight could say anything else, a point of emerald green light suddenly lit up in the mist within the stone bowl under their gaze.
“!!”
Seeing this, the old prophet could no longer care about the princess but crazily slit his own wrist, letting his blood flow into the bowl, fearing that this last glimmer of hope would disappear.
As he did so, the mist in the bowl shook violently and then, like an upside-down waterfall, surged rapidly into the old mage’s head.
Throughout this, the old mage’s body shook violently like someone with seizures, but he endured, determined not to miss a single piece of information.
“I see it! Attack! We must attack! At all costs, we must take down that tower!! Anywhere else means certain death; only that tower is our sole path to survival!!”
In the end, he roared out loud.
As he spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood, visibly wilting in spirit as if he had suffered some invisible severe blow.
Meanwhile, in the Secret Realm, looking at the Silver Thunderbolt controlled by Orbins striking towards a seemingly empty location in the distance, Anvis once again glanced at the Secret Gold Pocket Watch in his hand.
The Mithril hand of the watch made another round. Three Magic Time hours had passed.