novelraw Chapter 352: Cursed Prison
Chapter 352: Cursed Prison
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Admist the wind blowing as sharply as knives, it was as if the entire world were coated in a layer of white space. Comparatively, the geographical inclination out on the periphery spanning the Sema Mountains was relatively smooth and level; it was already considered quite benevolent relative to the large stretches tracing angles surpassing forty-five degrees of steep inclines situated further inward. Because of this, the operational speeds established by the navigational trio comprising Fisher, Valentiina, and Filis maintained quite the rapid cadence. It merely hadn't even clocked three hours post-separation from Dar alongside the rest, yet they currently arrived midway executing structural traversal breaching the snow mountain's outskirts.
"Valentiina, don't keep looking at the snow, your eyes will get hurt."
Fisher temporarily lent the Fluid Sword to Filis. They didn't bring any mountain climbing equipment. Relying on Fisher's tenth rank Constitution, he naturally passed through unimpeded, but Filis, who had barely reached the sixth rank, couldn't. Not to mention she was still carrying a delicate Young Lady on her back. An alpenstock not only helped Filis conserve energy but also scouted the condition of the snow- and ice-covered ground ahead.
"I know..."
On Filis's back, Valentiina obediently lowered her face and stopped looking at the surrounding scenery. After all, it was also her first time seeing the situation on the Sema Mountains. This magnificent feeling of standing at a vantage point overlooking the tiny mountains below considerably attracted her, given her lacking experience. She stared for quite a while, only hastily interrupting her actions after hearing Fisher's reminder.
Leaning on the Fluid Sword acting as an alpenstock, Filis cast a speechless glance at Valentiina on her back, complaining,
"Hey, Boss, I reminded you when we first started climbing the mountain. You wouldn't listen to me, but you listen to Fisher, huh? How about we just let Fisher carry you? You guys could even talk to each other..."
"Oh, not bad, there's actually someone sharing my perspective. I was thinking the same thing too. Look at your Boss, her gaze practically pierced right through the back of Fisher's silhouette..."
Standing on Fisher's shoulder, Eimhart smiled radiantly, casting an appreciative gaze toward Filis behind him, as if seeing a like-minded individual.This front-and-back teasing from a Lion-kin and a book made Valentiina's face flush slightly. She glared at that cheap-looking book, then reached out and tugged on Filis's muffin-like ears on her head. The pain caused Filis's face to scrunch up as she hurriedly begged for mercy,
"Ow, ow, my mistake, my mistake, Boss."
Right at this moment, the walking Fisher ahead suddenly halted his footsteps. Valentiina actually thought he had noticed her little movement of pinching Filis's ears, so she hastily retracted her hands to obediently rest onto her shoulder. However, Fisher wasn’t looking at Valentiina, but merely gazing toward an area featuring dark clouds echoing thunder in the distance with slightly furrowed brows.
The piercingly cold wind battered against him, yet he vaguely sensed a sound besides the wind. That sound was familiar; he had heard it previously...
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
It's Cardinals!
The next second, with his excellent eyesight, he quickly discovered a dozen or so blue points of light quivering slightly in front of the dark clouds, rapidly charging toward them. Fisher hastily grabbed Eimhart—who was still mischievously sticking his tongue out on his shoulder—and stuffed him into his embrace, before gently reaching out to call back the Fluid Sword in Filis's hand.
Meeting Filis and Valentiina's confused gazes, Fisher offered no explanation, merely instructing Filis,
"Keep moving forward, speed up, ignore me."
"It's the Turan—"
Valentiina wanted to turn around and look, but Filis supported her buttocks without any hesitation and sprinted forward, scaring Valentiina so much she could only cling tightly onto her back, not daring to move an inch.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
But the next moment, the extremely fast-flying Snowflake Knights actually split into two teams. One team chased after the sprinting Filis ahead, as blinding Death Lights burst forth, shooting toward the area Filis was running.
"Holy crap, what the hell is this thing..."
Filis turned her head and glanced at the blue-glowing Cardinal Knights behind her, then turned her head and glanced at the snow on the ground pierced through by the scorching hot light rays. She was instantly frightened out of her wits, yelling loudly at Valentiina behind her,
"Boss, hold on tight!"
"Ehh?"
Valentiina subconsciously hugged Filis tighter. The next moment, Filis abruptly dropped to all fours, dashing wildly forward like a true lion.
"Young Lady, Cadley has arrived upon the orders of the family to receive you."
In the sky, at the very top of that group of Snowflake Knights, Cadley watched with a smile as Filis and Valentiina sprinted wildly amidst the Cardinals' rain of Death Lights below. He didn't descend, merely watching the show from above. He wanted to see exactly how far this Lion-kin could run on the mountain.
Yet the next moment, he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He hurriedly twitched his finger, manipulating the Snowflake Knight beneath him to shift its body. The next second, a massive boulder viciously brushed past his face. Looking backwards, he saw a Naris man wielding a silver sword blade bounding straight up from the ground towards him tens of meters into the midair altitude.
Your mother, is he f*cking human?!
That expressionless Fisher sent a chill down his spine. He hurriedly manipulated the Snowflake Knight to continue ascending, while concurrently turning his head and yelling at the Naris special agents below,
"Didn't you guys say you could handle that fugitive she hired? Quick, do it!"
Corleone ignored Cadley barking madly above. Looking at Fisher flexibly shuttling back and forth midair with the aid of the Fluid Sword, sweat gradually formed on his forehead. That sharp, flowing blade shifted directions and bored into those suits of armor. Utilizing them to maneuver in midair, he simultaneously completely destroyed several Snowflake Knights.
Without even needing Cadley's reminder, he was already squatting on the ground, his hand gripping a tiny suitcase. Just as that cold-faced gentleman with a blade was about to arrive before him, he abruptly twisted the clasp locking the suitcase.
"Glug, glug~"
Fisher, who had originally prepared to end those Naris people with a single slash, suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end. The biological instinct of fearing danger exerted itself to the extreme at this moment. He subconsciously turned his head sideways. The next moment, a streak of pure black liquid viciously stabbed towards him.
Due to this evasion movement in midair, Fisher was inevitably pulled down by gravity. While falling, he stared intently at the sky above. He saw the black liquid bursting out of Corleone's suitcase spreading continuously. As if driven by some invisible power midair, it transformed into a bizarre object resembling a Rubik's cube. In the center of that Rubik's cube, a distorted eye trembled continuously, staring at Fisher below.
Individual cubes formed from the black liquid separated from the center, quickly dispersing and heading toward the falling Fisher below.
"Run, Fisher! That thing is the [Cursed Prison], a supportive tool used by the Holy Progeny to capture prisoners and prey in the past! Once locked inside, not even Mythical Species can escape, let alone you! Slip away quickly, let me think about what to do now! Wait for me to flip through the ancient texts. Your mother, I feel like I'm going to overload... Anyway, absolutely do not let its tentacles grab you, or else when you wake up again, you'll be back in your ex-ex-girlfriend's boudoir!"
The moment that massive black Rubik's cube locked onto Fisher, Eimhart's panicked cries instantly transmitted from his chest. But in reality, even without him saying it, Fisher recognized that thing and knew its purpose; he just didn't know the history of how it was used by the Angel-kin.
Back when he went to Nari Lake to attend Elizabeth's coming-of-age birthday banquet, he and Elizabeth had snuck into the Gedrin Treasury to take a look around. This black Rubik's cube was placed in a cabinet in the deepest part of the treasury at the time. When Elizabeth introduced it, she said this thing could capture very, very powerful people, and once captured, they could never escape.
At that time, the deeply in love couple even made intimate jokes about it. Elizabeth said that if Fisher didn't want her anymore in the future, she would use this Relic to capture him back, so he could never leave her side forever.
More than ten years have passed since then. Little did he expect that the joke from the past would become a prophecy. Now, Elizabeth was truly going to use this Relic from the Angel-kin era to capture him and return him to Naris.
Feeling the pressure continuously emanating from the black, liquid-like Relic condensing in midair, Fisher's face grew increasingly austere. He ignored the Cursed Prison, merely turning his head to look at the Snowflake Knights midair that were continuously firing Death Lights at Filis ahead.
"Eimhart, our lives rely on you this time."
"Huh? Even if you say that... Your mother, the brave Book Viscount will go all out!"
Hearing Fisher's words, Eimhart in his embrace gritted his teeth, instantly overcoming his fear and jumping out of his pocket, because staying within that narrow space would delay his page-flipping efficiency. He flickered with an extremely dazzling light in midair. Streaks of golden color resembling angel halos continuously burst out from his body, sending information from an unknown number of ancient texts over thousands of years straight into his brain.
And Fisher also raised the Fluid Sword in his hand, dashing towards the Snowflake Knights ahead like a flash of lightning.
In the sky, the Rubik's cube-like Cursed Prison shook the eyeball at its center. Subsequently, the twenty-seven cubes of black liquid abruptly dispersed, heading toward Fisher below like a torrential downpour blocking out the sun and sky.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!"
As the dense, raindrop-like black liquid charged down violently, all the Mana Circuits across Fisher's body lit up. That black liquid was actually extracting his magic power across space. This could restrict magic and soul-related abilities to the maximum extent. The gravity on the entire snowveld seemed to multiply by more than ten times, causing Fisher to grind his teeth forcefully. But no matter how hard he tried, his running speed still slowed down.
Running ahead, Filis also couldn't run anymore, tumbling twice on the ground. Valentiina on her back also rolled out. The crushed stones beneath the snow scraped across her delicate back, but worrying she might cause trouble for Fisher and Filis's battle, she hastily covered her mouth. Even though her eye sockets reddened from the pain, she didn't let out the slightest sound.
"Boss!"
With her fur standing on end all over her body, Filis clutched her lower abdomen and yelled loudly at Valentiina in the distance.
But the next moment, a situation that exceeded everyone's expectations occurred. Because the Cursed Prison's ability activated, the Snowflake Knights floating in midair actually lost power and plummeted downwards, crashing into the thick snow one after another.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
In a panic, Cadley pulled on the falling Snowflake Knight beneath him. Watching the ground getting closer and closer, he nearly cursed up a storm. He was the general manager of the Turan Family, when had he ever experienced this kind of battle formation? Even this rapid descent scared him to death. Holding back the urge to wet his pants, he closed his eyes and began cursing at Corleone and the Naris agents,
"Fck! You bunch of retards! Did you fcking come to capture them or help them? F*ck... Ahhhhh!"
Before Cadley's words greeting Corleone's mother could leave his mouth, he and the Snowflake Knight beneath him smashed fiercely onto the ground. These dozen or so iron lumps from the sky fell to the ground, and the several Naris agents didn't have it any easier, getting battered senseless.
However, Corleone was truly innocent, because the instruction manual he got from Elizabeth didn't mention the Cursed Prison having this kind of effect. The manual merely stated the Cursed Prison would automatically track the prisoner and restrict their use of magic until they were brought to justice. How was he supposed to know it also had this kind of large-scale restriction ability?
They truly couldn't blame Elizabeth for not telling this group of special agents either. Since the disappearance of the Angel-kin, and from the time this Relic fell to the mortal realm to the hands of the Gedrin Royal Family, this Relic was mostly used to capture humans. If the Angel-kin knew that this Relic, originally used to assist in capturing Mythical Species, was always used by the Gedrins to capture humans who hadn't even reached the first rank, who knows what they would think.
The fact was, the Cursed Prison in the past hadn't exerted its proper efficacy at all. Running at full power, it could capture all living beings below Mythical Species, and dealing against Mythical Species, it could only serve as an auxiliary, requiring the Angel-kin to act first... But facing the current Fisher, whose rank far exceeded humans, it clearly began to display its original efficacy.
"Great opportunity!"
Gritting his teeth and coming to a stop, Fisher watched as Cadley landed in the distance. They were mere humans; naturally, it was impossible for them to move under this restriction targeting Mythical Species, not even a single finger. Yet Fisher still could.
He abruptly hurled the Fluid Sword in his hand at Cadley. Carrying his will, the Fluid Sword continuously plummeted downward due to the extremely enhanced gravity, yet at the final moment, it still effortlessly pierced through Cadley's neck, violently pinning his entire body securely onto that Snowflake Knight frame.
"Urgh... No... I don't want to die yet..."
Cadley's pupils suddenly shrank. Unreconciled, he reached his hand upwards. The blood continuously welling up from his mouth interrupted his words. As the black raindrops in the sky drew nearer and nearer, the next second, his head tilted sideways, losing consciousness forever.
Following Cadley's death, although all the Cardinals present still flickered with light, they no longer moved an inch. And those knights approaching Filis and Valentiina instantly collapsed onto the ground as well.
"I found it! Fisher, because the Cursed Prison needs to act upon Mythical Species, its design specifications are very high, making it very difficult to control effectively. Therefore, the Holy Progeny created a Relic specifically to seal it away. That Relic can form a contract with the user, helping them become immune to the Cursed Prison's effects, as well as retrieve it after use... You must kill the person who contracted with that sealing Relic; this can cause the Cursed Prison to lose control!"
It's that simple?
That Relic, without even needing to think about it, was contracted with the leading Corleone, and that guy was merely an ordinary human special agent...
"Boom!"
Just the instant Fisher came up with this thought, his back felt as if it were being crushed by a mountain range. His entire body abruptly caved downwards, smashing a pit half a meter deep into the ground. His pupils shrank slightly. Looking back, he saw a drop of black liquid as small as a raindrop sticking to his back.
And in the sky, there were tens of thousands of raindrops mere inches away from Fisher.
"Fisher!"
Eimhart's exclamation exploded in his ears. Fisher gritted his teeth, exhausting all his bodily strength yet actually failing to move his waist to stand up. Conversely, the pressure on his back grew heavier and heavier, and the pit in the ground grew deeper and deeper. As drops of black rain fiercely plastered themselves onto him, all the Mana Circuits across Fisher's body dimmed down, and his connection to the Fluid Sword grew increasingly faint...
Is this the Cursed Prison of the Angel-kin?
That black liquid covered Fisher's body bit by bit. He tilted his gaze upwards. Before completely being sealed by the Cursed Prison, he tossed out Eimhart, who had been floating constantly beside him.
"Fisher! No!"
Eimhart's square body wobbled twice in midair, while the countless black raindrops had completely enveloped Fisher, transforming into a tiny Relic resembling a Rubik's cube floating in midair. Watching that slowly levitating magic object, Eimhart fiercely rammed his own body against that Cursed Prison, wanting to save Fisher, but naturally, it was completely useless.
Off in the distance, a pair of Naris special agents yielding firearms bounded forward continuously approaching Filis crouching on the floor gasping for continuous exhales holding tightly addressing her lower stomach. Visibly obvious, atop spots shielded securely by Filis’ manual applications, gushing vibrant blood flowed nonstop sequentially outwards indicating previous combat damage suffered due to aggregated Cardinal armaments hitting its precise structural location representing the fundamental causative origin neutralizing structural bodily mobilizations currently.
"Boss, this Lion-kin and that crippled girl from the Turan family can't move anymore. What should we do next?"
Behind Corleone, an agent holding a gun looked at Filis. Meanwhile, another agent, after seeing Valentiina lying on the ground, pointed a gun at her and familiarly stripped away the Magic Rings on her fingers one by one before she could use magic.
This group of agents was extremely experienced in dealing with magic users. After taking off these Magic Rings, Valentiina was a downright disabled person, offering completely no resistance whatsoever.
Red-eyed, Valentiina watched the Magic Ring on her ring finger get taken off. That Naris agent weighed those rings in his hand, then walked back to Corleone's side to report.
Corleone panted several times. Looking at the Cursed Prison that had completely turned into a Rubik's cube in the distance, as well as Eimhart constantly ramming against that Cursed Prison, he finally revealed a faint smile.
"We finally succeeded. Now, upon our return, the Empress will definitely reward us handsomely... Wait a moment, I will report this matter to the Empress first."
He reached up to touch his temple. As the golden long-distance Communication Magic was awakened, Elizabeth's calm voice suddenly resounded beside his ear,
"Corleone? Has the Cursed Prison tightened? Has Fisher been captured?"
Through that long-distance Communication Magic, Elizabeth obviously saw the Rubik's cube floating in midair and that book-shaped Relic that never left Fisher's side. She knew in her heart that the capture operation might have succeeded, hence her tone even carried a hint of excitement.
"Ah, indeed, Your Majesty. F—"
"Boom!"
Just as Corleone proudly prepared to speak, behind him, an enormous boom resembling a cannon shot suddenly rang out. The very instant that sound reached Corleone's ears, his head completely exploded open, causing Elizabeth far away in Naris to raise an eyebrow slightly.
"Thump!"
Corleone's headless corpse collapsed onto the snowveld. Elizabeth's Communication Magic subsequently collapsed onto the snowveld alongside his detonated eyeballs. Consequently, within Elizabeth's field of vision, she could merely behold a pitch-black abyss, whilst nevertheless capable of auditory reception catching sounds transmitting backward stemming towards there.
Positioned astern relative toward Corleone, Valentiina previously sprawling upon the snowveld gasped repeatedly lifting aloft the Mini Cannon Sertil afforded serving her self-defense explicitly forward previously. Her petite pristine face maintained ashen pallor matching diminutive hands maintaining uncontrollable tremors violently; conversely those pale-silver irises targeted maintaining unyielding deadlocks affixed straight targeting another singular specialized Naris personnel located anterior equivalently facing her,
"Return Fisher alongside the ring he imparted back specifically toward me!"
"BOOM!"
That agent reacted very quickly, recovering from Corleone's demise in practically an instant, but it was already too late to draw his gun now. The Mini Cannon in Valentiina's hand boomed once more. That agent who took her Magic Rings subconsciously ducked his head, but the lethal range of the Mini Cannon Sertil made was simply too large. Although ducking his head saved the lower half of his head, the upper half of his head still shattered upon impact.
Far away in Naris, upon hearing Valentiina's female voice, Elizabeth flew into a towering rage. She viciously kicked the table in front of her again, this time directly kicking over the newly replaced table, shattering teacups and glass all over the floor.
"Ring... ring!! Fine, very fine, you even have a ring! Slut!"
Only, this time in the Northern Border, no one could hear Elizabeth's roar filled with jealousy and fury anymore, because her subordinate Corleone had already died in a foreign land.
"Boss, Jamie!"
"Roar!"
The expression of the agent watching Filis changed. He hurriedly aimed his gun at Valentiina lying on the ground, but he had barely pulled the trigger when Filis before him viciously crashed into his body. The gunshot fired toward the sky, and the next moment, Filis had already pierced the opposing party's throat using the miniature dagger the Snow Fox-kin gave her.
Watching the agent beneath her lose his life force, Filis looked at the miniature Snow Fox-kin dagger in her hand and smiled faintly, then slumped weakly onto the ground.
"The little fox's lucky dagger... ha... ha... I like it."
"Rumble, rumble, rumble!"
Yet before Filis, lying on the snow gripping her wound, could rest for a single second, she immediately felt the entire earth tremor violently. Her expression changed slightly as she turned her head to look toward the snow mountain, only to see the massive wind and snow atop the mountain peak charging over overwhelmingly like a tsunami.
"It's an avalanche, Boss! Ah, it hurts!"
The previous Cardinal weapons had produced little sound or vibration whatsoever. It was only when the Cursed Prison sealed Fisher that the wind and snow accumulated for a century atop the distant mountain peak came loose. The massive sounds produced by those two cannon shots Valentiina fired out of fury became the last straw that broke the camel's back, triggering the avalanche on the outskirts of the Sema Mountains.
Just as Filis wanted to rescue Valentiina beside her, a sharp pain struck her lower abdomen, causing her vision to gradually blur, ultimately resulting in her failure to rise.
Not good, the wound...
Just as Filis squinted her eyes, feeling the avalanche drawing nearer and nearer, a lightning-fast figure sprinted wildly toward Filis with a book in one hand and pulling Valentiina lying on the snowveld with the other.
"Fisher..."
Filis murmured. The next second, Fisher had already placed Valentiina beside Filis. He lowered his head to look at the pale-faced Valentiina, suddenly recalling the massive blast of a cannon fire he'd heard prior to succumbing completely void lacking consciousness subsequent encompassing sealing. Smiling mutely issuing a snort, addressing her he specified,
"Extremely well orchestrated application; subsequently extracting redemption sustaining my operative life force... Bestow subsequent operational delegations comprehensively upon my administration onward."
Valentiina pursued corresponding lips biting closely; gently implementing specialized fingertips hooking elements overlapping structural lapels lining identical chest zones externally showcasing naked observable dejections manifestly visible natively downward casting hushed voices proclaiming,
"The ring... disappeared..."
Fisher experienced momentary bewilderment, subsequent sequential turn navigating toward scanning visually the piteous expression radiating across Valentiina regarding him besetting parallel identical flanking space neighboring him. Visually experiencing emotional reverberations softly caressing sentimental boundaries held fundamentally situated within his central emotional core, he yielded incapable inhibiting applying external palm manual wipes alleviating rubicund optical peripheries eliminating inherently un-coagulated moistness smoothing natively aside accordingly concurrently concurrently radiating extending traversing inside fundamental right-hand sleeve constructs transmitting rhythmic emitting sounds continuous "glug glug" vibrations glowing intensely progressively brighter emerald radiances,
"It matters not."
"Glug glug~"
Listening unto Fisher's voice resonating vibratory auditory traces, Valentiina tightly squeezed her optics shut. Imminently manifesting sequential chronological increments, supple manifestations structurally equivalently mapping jelly derivatives constructed exclusively yielding neon green pigments slithered wobbling rhythmically discharging out of Fisher's palmar clutches. Identical vivid green jelly organic configurations iteratively enlarged cumulatively establishing completely formatting hovering mid-air encapsulating a comprehensive circumference exhibiting defensive parameter shields encasing wobbling unsteadily isolating identically securing an enveloping coverage completely containing all three humanoids maintaining simultaneous singular documentation repository structurally enveloped intrinsically therein.
That consisted precisely corresponding corresponding equivalent precious Relic practically gifted towards Fisher presented personally utilizing previous historical instances provided specifically courtesy spanning the Slime King—explicitly functionally capable servicing one standalone utility "Slime Loop."
Shaking like jelly, the Loop faced an unimaginably gigantic variance regarding fundamental size evaluating comparable equivalent disparity mapping incoming colossal cascading monumental avalanches looming imminent currently... Conversely exhibiting spectacular contradictions subsequent impending next second manifested structurally violently resilient repulsions unnervingly violently rebounding dynamic sequential bouncing off structural engagements terminating initial collisions precisely directly mapping initial kinetic impacts specifically interfacing contacting initial parameter establishing primary exterior shields encompassing explicitly identical matching specific "Slime Loop"!
"Dong~ dong~ dong~"
The Loop surrounding their bodies shook continuously. Even though it was buried by heavy snow, it never shattered. Feeling the snow envelop the entire Slime Loop, Valentiina, plunged into darkness, quietly closed her eyes. Her hand hooking onto Fisher's sleeve slid down bit by bit until Fisher proactively reached out to hold her small hand tightly bit by bit.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble!"
On a distant mountain peak, Erwind, wearing the beaked mask, watched as the massive avalanche completely submerged the hillside below, his figure remaining as motionless as a statue. For under the reflection of his beaked mask's lenses, a green light flashed beneath that snowpile.
He remained silent for a moment, then turned his head to look towards the distance, deep into the outskirts of the Sema Mountains. The next moment, the wind and snow in the Northern Border rose once again, and Erwind's body slowly dissipated like a fragile, swaying dandelion, transforming into specks of black flowers that drifted towards the extremely distant horizon until they vanished completely without a trace.
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(End of this chapter)