novelraw Chapter 204: At the Entrance
Chapter 204: At the Entrance
After the conversation with Anna ended just now, Fisher didn't speak anymore. Instead, he closed his eyes and rested his spirit for a while. Beside him, Anna looked at Fisher's profile with closed eyes for a while from the side. Consequently, as she watched, Fisher with his closed eyes suddenly spoke up again, startling Anna into quickly withdrawing her gaze,
"Right, I suddenly remembered something."
"...What?"
Fisher opened his eyes, reached into his inner pocket, and abruptly pulled out several playing cards glinting with a faint fluorescence, and then handed all these playing cards to Anna.
Anna subconsciously accepted them, but still asked in confusion,
"What are these?"
"It's inevitable that we will clash with Black after entering the treasury in a while. The strength of his physical body exceeds my imagination. To ensure your safety, I am giving you some high-circle magic I've prepared. Throw them out and use them in times of crisis. After going to the Healing House, only four remain: three offensive magics and one defensive magic..."
Fisher roughly introduced the effects of these magics. Although Anna didn't understand the principles of magic, using them wouldn't be a problem, so Fisher didn't reach out to check whether mana circuits could light up on her body.
Anna nodded and silently put the playing cards back into her dress. Just as Fisher had closed his eyes preparing to rest, she spoke up again,
"If you give them to me, what will you do?""Don't worry about me. I was previously caught off guard by Black, but it will be better this time. I will engrave some more magic after I nap for a while."
"...Is that so."
Anna had actually heard that many Magicians couldn't engrave magic anytime and anywhere. They had to be particular about whether their condition was optimal, whether materials were sufficient, and the like. Only the student of this Grand Mage could engrave magic so casually, right?
After nodding, she didn't speak again, similarly closing her eyes to rest her spirit alongside Fisher.
Xi Yate was already lying on her side in the hall, boredly starting to count the stars. Jasmine leaned on the table preparing to take a short nap, while Sir Book had turned into a quiet book lying on the table again.
This tiny bit of quiet time before the battle could be considered extremely precious. Even the usually anxious Anna had rarely calmed down. Perhaps it was because venting some of the feelings in her heart made her feel a lot more comfortable.
Embracing such a briefly relaxed mindset, Anna's consciousness sank heavily, not knowing which dreamscape she drifted off to.
"Wake up... Get up."
"...Hmm?"
Anna was awakened by Fisher's calling voice. She moaned somewhat uncomfortably and then opened her eyes with difficulty, only to find Fisher squatting in front of her, looking at her without any expression.
She panted for a moment, looking down only to find that Fisher had tossed his own coat over her so she wouldn't be too cold in her sleep. He himself was wearing a white shirt.
"...What time is it now?"
"It's almost dawn, get up first."
"Okay... thank you for the coat."
"It was your coat originally, there's nothing to thank me for."
Fisher didn't take back that coat; wearing less was actually more suitable for the upcoming matters. He walked back to front of the adjacent table. At this moment, Anna just realized that Fisher had spread open a book and torn down many pages, and engraved a simple low-circle magic on each one.
There was no time and no materials to engrave high-circle magic now, so he could only use this to make do for the time being.
Jasmine had already woken up, while Xi Yate was nowhere to be seen. Anna rubbed her shoulders and slowly stood up, looking up at the sky, partitioned by glass and somewhat foggy.
The weather today was extremely poor, as if ink had moistened the sky, gloomily terrifying.
"It's... there's no sunlight outside. Can you open that Concealment Magic you mentioned?"
"It has nothing to do with sunlight. Concealment Magic only requires the correct time, unaffected by the weather..."
"Fisher! This is bad, the soldiers outside don't know when they disappeared... eh?"
Right at this moment, the crisp sound of horse hooves came from the corridor outside the library. Accompanying it was Xi Yate's anxious shout of reminder. Carrying her bow, arrows, and dagger on her back, she ran in and pointed at the windowsill outside while speaking.
Hearing this, Fisher followed her out of the library's hall. Sir Book also followed Fisher to the balcony's direction, only to see that the surroundings of Lake Naris, still somewhat pitch-black, were completely dead silent. The garrison troops that had appeared here previously were nowhere to be seen; they might have gone to change shifts.
In the distance in the eastern sky, above the gloomy dark clouds, a thin strand of light was slowly spreading, signifying that Saint-Nazareth was now preparing to begin sunrise.
And further away in Saint-Nazareth, two long plumes of black smoke were rushing straight up into the sky. It seemed as if somewhere was on fire, and the fire was extremely intense, otherwise one wouldn't be able to see those two plumes of smoke beneath the distant sky even from the location of Lake Naris.
That direction was very likely the Pink Pavilion and Black's mansion.
"Splosh splosh splosh!"
"Ha—"
"Woo—"
In the very next moment, a dense cascade of splashing water suddenly emitted from the opposite riverbank. With Fisher's excellent eyesight, he could vaguely discern one grotesque and twisted monster after another spreading along the riverbank, churning up layers of white spume like a tide.
And atop that tide composed of flesh-and-blood monsters, a tall elderly man wearing a cloak stood against the wind, looking straight over here.
It was Black!
Fisher inhaled a breath of cold air. Black definitely knew the situation over here. He had spent the entire night tying up loose ends in Saint-Nazareth and arrived at Lake Naris right before morning.
The departure of the soldiers at Lake Naris was very likely the result of a deal struck between Dexter and Black. Black wouldn't leave until he captured Jasmine, and Dexter remained silent on this matter, withdrawing the security from Lake Naris early on. It was obvious he didn't want to meddle in this affair.
He hastily grabbed the pale-faced Xi Yate and ran toward the inside of the library. While running, he shouted at the suspended Sir Book,
"Eimhart, how do I open the first layer of concealed magic? Tell me how to operate the mechanism!"
"Oh, good heavens, this is far too terrifying, I have to think about it... Right! Go to the control room on the side of the first floor first!"
Fisher, running back to the hall, grabbed the magically engraved pieces of paper he had placed on the table, and then told Xi Yate to explain the situation to Jasmine and the others. He himself trotted all the way following the floating Sir Book ahead.
It wasn't until the end of the bookshelves on the first floor that Fisher practically saw a tiny room. Inside was a complete control platform that could control the opening and closing of the crystal glass on the ceiling using buttons. Fisher first pushed a safety latch and then asked Sir Book which button to press.
"Rumble..."
After operating according to Sir Book's prompts, the entire library began emitting enormous noise. Mechanical devices pushed the glass on the ceiling to slowly begin to move. Consequently, the first wisp of morning breeze was able to blow into the completely enclosed library.
"It's done! Hurry out and look, I guarantee you'll find something!"
Sir Book began to circle around Fisher again. Fisher walked out from the room anew. Everyone in the hall was watching the glass on the ceiling slowly shift position.
"Ding ding!"
Following the movement of that glass, crisp sounds akin to wind chimes slowly emanated from the void. Jasmine's eyes were very sharp; she clearly saw twisting glass patterns on the glass gradually converging into specific shapes in midair, resembling countless tangled threads plucked by the wind to form shapes.
As that halo slowly moved, the magic on it was activated, illuminating the strokes that configured a vocabulary word.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"
That vocabulary word slowly formed. At the moment it appeared, the pupils of both Fisher and Jasmine slightly shrank.
The reason was none other than the sky didn't display any known Naris vocabulary word, merely onomatopoeic letters constituting a word. And Fisher had heard and mentioned that onomatopoeic word countless times.
Written up there was:
Muxi.
"Muxi?"
"Auntie?"
Sir Book floated beside Fisher, looking up at that bright name in the sky, blinking his eye as if recollecting something.
"Ah, every time I see this magic activating, I feel quite emotional... although most of the times it opens, it just wakes me from my sleep. Many years ago, a young Black always liked to stealthily bring his wife and swim silently along the waterways of Naris to this place, sneaking past everyone to enter their treasure vault."
"Coincidentally, he back then was just like you right now... Black's wife was a pureblood South Sea Whale-kin with extremely noble bloodline. Yet she chose to squander her lifespan on shore to stay with her lover... Good heavens, there's a big bug up there!"
Sir Book looked toward the ceiling outside the library. Dozens of twisted monsters were climbing upward along the walls outside the library, quickly arriving at the skylight. They roared, wanting to eagerly squeeze in through the narrow window, but could only stick out half their bodies.
In the corridor outside the door, a massive crash suddenly resounded. A tremendous force instantly pierced through the walls. Countless pieces of rubble and dust shoved the bookshelves backwards. With quick reflexes, Fisher pulled the stunned and frightened Anna beside him to prevent her from being crushed under the bookshelf.
It wasn't until he touched Anna's body that Fisher realized she was trembling in fear, her entire body freezing cold.
"Anna, Anna..."
He called out twice but she remained blank, stunned by the sky full of Human-Insects. Fisher gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at her with his eyes.
"Laya Lu!"
"I..."
"Are you waiting for death? Hide in the back!"
Anna pursed her lips and nodded, tightly gripping the playing cards Fisher had given her in her bosom, and ran to the back.
Meanwhile, from the continuously billowing dust ahead, a tall human silhouette slowly walked out from within. Black, whose face was full of deep furrows, wore a very faint expression, yet a piercing gleam radiated from his eyes. He first scanned the situation in the library, and then halted his gaze on Jasmine.
He smiled slightly. There were hardly any teeth left in his mouth, but his voice was still powerful.
"Let us see, how many friends are coveting the treasures in my vault?"
He panted slightly, seemingly having arrived here not long ago. Behind him, countless water-stained Human-Insects flooded in, but halted behind his back, not taking another step forward for the time being.
Looking at the terrifying and oppressive scene before him, Sir Book didn't say a single word. He directly transformed in midair into an exquisite pamphlet, only the size of a finger, and familiarly ran into Fisher's pocket to find the most comfortable corner to play dead, transforming into a cowardly deserter shrinking away.
The speed of that escape made even Fisher click his tongue. No wonder this guy could wander all over the world without being discovered.
"Black!"
Xi Yate likewise felt the danger just like Fisher. She rigidly raised the longbow in her hands and aimed it at Black in the distance, but similarly didn't attack rashly. The countless Human-Insects looking at her made her feel somewhat unnatural, and her front hooves reeled up slightly, hoping to use this to increase her own imposing aura.
"A human scholar, an unloved Centaur Race, and... my most favored Anna."
Black scanned the surroundings, his gaze ultimately resting on Anna hiding beside Jasmine. He let out a sigh with quite some lament, and then stretched his hand toward Anna,
"Anna, do you know how I have always viewed you these past few years? I couldn't have a child in my lifetime. Back then, among that boat of dying people from the Southern Continent, I saw you at first glance. Your eyes were so moving; that was why I spent money to buy you and your companions... Even though you have betrayed me now, I don't feel the slightest bit of anger in my heart, do you know?"
Her eyes were wide with rage. Staring deadly at Black in the distance, she pointed at him and directly cursed furiously,
"Shut up! You demon who deserves to go to hell! The things you have done are worse than beasts! Did you still expect me to feel grateful to you? Kaje... Anleka... they all died because of you! You deserve death! Black!"
As Anna spoke, her heart ached so much she clutched her chest, as if her heartbeat was about to stop. However, the Human-Insects in the distance became restless because of her angry roar, looking as if they couldn't endure moving forward. Yet Black gently reached out and blocked them again.
He didn't continue paying attention to Anna, because he already knew that problems couldn't possibly be solved by transactions and negotiations alone.
"My old friend, Jogel Godolin, is nearing his limit. Everything is turbulent inside the Golden Palace, and all factions in Naris are observing from the sidelines... I originally thought that acting at this time would be unimpeded, after all I am not seeking much. But I never expected... Fisher Benavides, that it would be you, a scholar enjoying great fame, to obstruct my final step before reaching the endpoint..."
"It is my honor."
Fisher stood rigidly in front of Black and gave him a rather formal gentleman's bow.
He was so young, so handsome, appearing as the favored child of Naris, favored by the princess, rich in talent and passion. Similarly, there was a Whale-kin girl who had fallen in love with him in her same prime youth...
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
Right during the confrontation between both sides, the light above the library nevertheless grew increasingly brighter. After the word "Muxi" appeared in midair, the entire library seemed to have been activated.
The illusory text slowly fell down in accordance with gravity, dazzling like fireworks yet light as a feather. With every distance it fell, the surrounding walls and bookshelves slowly began spreading with flashing, silver-white magic crest patterns.
That was the entrance magic leading underground.
Black's gaze was drawn by that commotion. Raising his head, he primarily saw the constantly descending word "Muxi".
He opened his mouth slightly. He abruptly felt that it had been several years since he last came here. During this time, all affairs had been handed over to Katerina, and he no longer stealthily brought his beloved wife here to admire the treasures they had accumulated together like when he was young...
Thinking of this, Black simply closed his eyes and didn't look. But the Human-Insects beside him had already sensed his thoughts and roared simultaneously while pouncing forward.
Fisher's complexion didn't change as a Fluid Sword smoothly slipped into his hand. He turned his head to look at Jasmine behind him and instructed,
"You stay with them, I will handle Black."
"Fisher, I will be with you!"
Jasmine had fought with Black once. She obviously knew the physical constitution of that old man was exaggeratedly strong, so she wanted to step forward to help. But Fisher shook his head, telling her not to go out.
"I have a way. You absolutely must guard Anna and the others safely!"
"...Okay!"
Jasmine hesitated for a second, ultimately choosing to trust Fisher.
Fisher waved the Fluid Sword in his hand. That Fluid Sword extended toward the surroundings like a spinning whip. As the magic in the sky continuously plummeted and the magic around them evidently grew brighter and brighter, Fisher advanced in the opposite direction. His target was precisely Black.
"Ding ding!"
Black abruptly opened his eyes. Once he made his move, he was as fast as thunder. He instantly stuck out his hand and deadly grabbed the Fluid Sword Fisher swung at him.
The sound of clashing metal abruptly exploded out. Fisher's body was simultaneously dragged forward by a massive force. He stepped on the head of a Human-Insect in midair, and simultaneously, several spinning light blades on a burning piece of paper brandished forward.
The [Bee's Dance] magic plus the Fluid Sword. Several sharp attacks striking Black's body simultaneously! But he didn't even move a bit, merely standing quietly in place as he watched Fisher's attacks being completely deflected.
At this point, even Fisher noticed a clue. Previously, Fisher truly thought it was because Black's muscles were extremely tough that he couldn't break through, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
There were several attacks Fisher directly landed on his body. If Black's muscles were strong, his cloak should have also torn. But now, his cloak was completely undamaged!
There was something covering the outside of his body that had a nature somewhat similar to a protective shield.
Fisher frowned, releasing the Fluid Sword in midair, and landed himself amidst the Human-Insects. Surrounding Human-Insects wanted to pounce over, but had their heads sliced open by the returning Bee's Dance.
"To have such martial skills for a scholar? If you had been in my fleet during our explorations back then, we would have had far fewer people die..."
"A pity, if I had been born a few decades earlier I might have had a chance. Assuming that were the case, would we two be fighting like two old men right now?"
Black grasped the Fluid Sword he caught in his hand and threw it away. Watching that Fluid Sword retract backward like a python into Fisher's hand, he shook his head and then said,
"This is only the viewpoint of the you right now, twenty-eight-year-old Fisher Benavides... If you had adventured together with me back then, by today you would already be over a hundred years old, and you would long since have ceased caring about these things."
"Perhaps..."
The trio of women fighting the Human-Insects behind him was simply more than adequate. Originally, Fisher had wanted Jasmine to protect Xi Yate and Anna. To his unexpected surprise, Xi Yate, this Centaur girl, was particularly capable of fighting. Recalling it, she was Jasmine's combat teacher.
At this moment, Xi Yate was using both dagger and bow and arrow excellently. If an enemy got close, she would directly rear up her tall hooves and stomp the Human-Insect's head to pieces.
Not to mention Jasmine. Anna could only rely on the magic in her hands to withstand the enemy, but since she only had three offensive magic spells, having used one and piercing through many enemies, she didn't dare to use the next one anymore.
The situation over there wasn't considered urgent; the fight on Fisher's side, however, was in full swing.
The transmitting magic in the sky continuously descended. The entrance to the vault had already gradually formed, and an illusory entrance slowly bloomed beneath the feet of Fisher and his group like a flower.
Black deeply understood that there was no need to let them go down into the vault. Waiting here a while longer and Fisher's group would be unable to hold on. Thus, he stuck his hand straight up, preparing to destroy the entrance magic on the nearby wall.
With sharp eyes and quick hands, Fisher used the Fluid Sword to pull back his sturdy arm, causing his movement to pause momentarily.
"Even if I let you enter the vault, you will not be my match; you will ultimately all die. It's better to hand over the Son of the Sea to me; I can even directly let the rest of you leave."
As soon as he said that, Black caught the Fluid Sword with his backhand and directly threw a punch straight at Fisher.
Black had experienced systematic combat training, much stronger than a half-baked person like Fisher. Coupled with his exaggeratedly strong physique, Fisher felt incredibly deeply troubled having just exchanged blows for a few rounds.
But fortunately, Fisher didn't charge out alone to fight a duel with Black.
Pulling the Fluid Sword, he performed a beautiful midair spin, dodging Black's strike. Following his landing, Fisher had already positioned himself next to the wall.
Fisher fiercely pulled the Fluid Sword back from Black's hand, passing through the heads of several Human-Insects along the way. But amidst Black's shocked gaze, he abruptly noticed that the shape of that Fluid Sword had changed into a bowl-shaped reverse hook. While the Fluid Sword was being pulled backward, that reverse hook simultaneously filled with the blood of the Human-Insects.
What was he going to do?
"I have no way to know exactly which Magician you hired back then to design this magic for you. But as long as his design approach isn't much different from mine, I am fully capable of taking it over and tampering with it..."
Fisher's gaze moved upward along the nearby wall. After the vocabulary word "Muxi" appeared, bright magic crest patterns appeared from within the crevices of the surrounding space. At the very top of that magic, a massive [Space] Circle Head was incredibly eye-catching.
And that gentleman wearing a white shirt cleanly pulled out a page full of engraved crests from his inner pocket. The page was full of crests, but at this moment they didn't light up, obviously having not taken effect yet.
But in the next second, Black had already realized what Fisher was going to do. His expression faintly tightened, and he completely ignored Fisher, instead rushing toward Jasmine in the distance. He wanted to capture Jasmine right before Fisher's motion.
However, competing in hand speed, Fisher, this young man, was still a step ahead!
He saw Fisher fiercely throw that piece of paper into midair at an extremely tricky angle, just so the enormous [Space] Circle Head above perfectly sat atop that white paper. Fisher inhaled a breath, the mana circuit on his hand lighting up. Reusing the Fluid Sword stained with blood, he precisely drew the connection line between the Main Ring and the Circle Head in midair.
This way, borrowing another Magician's already activated Circle Head would drain much less mana from himself. In midair, that piece of paper suddenly froze. A nested magic where two magic spells shared a single Circle Head instantly formed, taking effect the moment right before the entrance opened.
"Son of the Sea!"
Black stretched out his hand hideously toward Jasmine. Right at the moment before approaching Jasmine, everyone in the entire venue abruptly froze entirely. Black hung suspended in midair eerily, while all the Human-Insects also groveled on the ground trembling.
Six-circle magic, [Spatial Crushing Magic]!
At the same time, the Ring Tail had also been granted an exclusion target by Fisher, thus allowing it to avoid taking effect on Fisher and his group.
Since this high-circle magic had actually been dug out by Fisher using his fingernails on the already engraved playing cards... a magic carved out sparingly just to piece something together could simply be considered a miracle in the history of magic engraving.
Originally, Fisher still had five magic playing cards on him. He gave four to Anna, and with the remaining one, Fisher dug out materials and only produced a half-finished product. In fact, originally Fisher wanted to directly carve a complete magic without needing to borrow this massive Circle Head, but who told him he was out of magical materials...
Making do with what he had, anyway as long as it succeeded in the end, it was fine.
Jasmine blinked at Black, who was frozen stiff in midair. She suddenly wanted to stick out her hand to sneak-attack and heavily hammer the old man in an unsportsmanlike manner. But she didn't succeed.
Because very quickly, everyone present, except for Fisher's group, was instantly suppressed ferociously by the void.
The moment the magic took effect, Black and the Human-Insects fiercely smashed to the ground. Many Human-Insects painfully roared as they struggled, yet their bodies were crushed to explosion from the inside.
Even with Black's physical body being extremely sturdy, when he was being crushed, he still let out an angry bellow, staring deadly at Jasmine before him, waiting to grab her after this magic concluded.
"Don't move, Jasmine! The target of this magic is very unstable!"
"Rumble!"
It wasn't just the Human-Insects and Black; those bookshelves, books, and desks were also successively deformed from getting crushed. The ground constantly produced cracks, and even the library on the second and third floors began to collapse. This magic borrowed the Circle Head of that immensely powerful magic, thereby its efficiency essentially expanded greatly, reaching the level of seven or eight-circle magic.
Seeing Jasmine preparing to strike again—using her hands to ferociously hammer Black's head—Fisher remained motionless in place and shouted at her like this, terrified she would be accidentally injured.
But actually, even if Fisher didn't shout, Jasmine didn't have the chance. Because in the next moment, the original transmission magic had also taken effect.
An illusory, flower-like light suddenly bloomed open beneath their feet. A sizable suction force was generated from that flower, as if desiring to pull the group and drag them plummeting toward unknown depths.
Fisher clenched his teeth. His own magic was promptly covered up by this transmitting space magic. The number of rings and structure of this magic were clearly higher than his own; its world reverberation easily covered his own.
Upon seeing the magic on his body being dispelled, Black promptly stood up and once again reached his hand toward Jasmine. Jasmine didn't hold back either; she turned around and lashed her tail right on his body, repelling him.
Right when Fisher prepared to continue attacking, Black's entire person was tugged by that suction force and vanished on the spot instantly, leaving him panting as he stopped his motion.
At this time, gazing towards Jasmine's direction, he couldn't see the figures of Xi Yate and Anna behind him, not knowing when they had disappeared. Experiencing that he and Jasmine would be transmitted momentarily, Fisher hurried to stretch out his hand toward Jasmine.
"Jasmine! Come here!"
Jasmine pursed her lips, and clamping her teeth, rushed in Fisher's direction. At the final moment before the suction force descended, their two hands touched together. In the next second, both of them coincidentally vanished from the spot together.
The whole library instantly quieted down, leaving only a mess of damaged bookshelves and massive quantities of gradually dissipating Human-Insect corpses.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"
But the Lake Naris outside, was as still and dead silent as ever.