Chapter 628: Psalm of Night
Inside the grey effect of Time Stop, a sliver light suddenly glowed as a vintage hourglass that was engraved with the patterns of a full moon, half moon and a crescent moon flew out of Rhine’s pocket!
As the silver sand flowed inside, the effect of Time Stop was gone, but the sand was also reduced into powder.
It was indeed as expected of the Observer who had a copious collection.
However, ‘Douglas’ had already performed ‘Eternal Blaze’. Lucien, having only just recovered from the attack, could only focus the will and blood power transformed from his spiritual power on the Shield of Truth, keeping it before himself and Rhine.
Boom!
The most terrifying temperature vaporized the grey bricks and the illusionary ripples created by the Shield of Truth. The energy storm that seemed able to destroy the world blew both the shield and Lucien backwards.
After only several seconds, the amazing feeling that they were in a different world was gone. The ripples around them cracked and fell apart. The surface of the neat and sacred ‘Shield of Truth’ was also brimming with the miserable traces of a raging storm, as if it would be completely damaged before long.
Lucien’s ‘Robe of Grand Arcanists’, sensing the temperature and the energy that were infiltrating, automatically triggered ‘Elemental Skin’ and ‘Magic Absorber’, crazily swallowing and offsetting the damage.
Suddenly, Rhine’s red coat emitted vague blackness that appeared like the deepest night, calling for subconscious reference and compliment.
The black light spread out and slightly twisted the direction of the high temperature, the energy storm and the neutron storm that leaked in. In the meantime, his body became fuzzy like a mist, which enveloped Lucien and brought him into a ‘dream’.
In the unimaginable light and heat at the center of the explosion of ‘Eternal Blaze’, the Shield of Truth, Lucien and Rhine were soon obliterated, but it seemed to be waking them from a dream.
‘Real Dream’! ‘Night Travel’! The vampires’ two talents!
The surging explosion destroyed the whole hall and tore apart the grey wall and the black gate. Bloody liquid dripped from the ceiling and the door, only to be vaporized immediately.
After the explosion died down, the grey wall wriggled as if it were alive, repairing everything on its own. Very soon, the place became exactly the same as before, except that the silver pattern of magic on the floor had been erased.
……
Inside another grey hall…
Rhine and Lucien suddenly appeared from the void in midair. Unable to control themselves, they fell and hit the ground with a loud noise. Their whole bodies were in pain.
“I’m not dead yet? I weathered through a hydrogen bomb!” The sense of pain made Lucien really feel that he was still alive. In his delight, he did not call it ‘Eternal Blaze’ but used ‘hydrogen bomb’, his most familiar name, in his heart.
“Cough.” Rhine’s hair was a bit of a mess, but he tried to cover his mouth with a white handkerchief. It was not until a long time later that he stopped the intense coughing and regained the ability of talking. “The ‘Eternal Blaze’ you invented is truly a spell that suppresses the undead creatures. Despite the blockage of the Shield of Truth and ‘Psalm of Night’, I have been unusually weakened. I probably wouldn’t be able to wield much strength in the next hour or so.”
That was only because the princes of vampires had strong recovery abilities. If it were any other vampires, their skin would’ve been burnt and festered, and it wouldn’t be healed until a long time later.
“Psalm of Night?” Lucien glanced at Rhine’s red coat, on which the dark and peaceful darkness was still flowing. It seemed to be the legendary armor among the vampires which had uncannily fallen from a level-four, perfect legendary item into a level-three, senior-rank one. Had it not been for its defense, Rhine and he would have suffered much more severe damage.
Thinking about that, Lucien looked at the Shield of Truth in his hands. The delicate, well-decorated surface of the shield was full of bumps and dents. Holes caused by vaporization could be found in many places, too. It was obvious that the shield was no longer usable for now.
Lucien was more or less relieved. The shield did not seem to be completely damaged yet, or he would feel a great heartache. Such a high-level legendary item with special defense like ‘Shield of Truth’ couldn’t be replaced at all!
“As expected of the Shield of Truth. If it were any other level-three legendary item, it would have been completely vaporized.” Rhine observed the black gates warily. According to their previous experiences, the monster would not show up in the grey hall out of nowhere but would encounter the target after the gate was opened. Of course, that might just be the monster’s hobby.
Touching the uneven surface of the Shield of Truth, Lucien said, “It only survived because the mechanism of its defense is different from that of other objects.”
He also added in his heart, “That’s why we survived.”
‘Eternal Blaze’ was an area attack. Spell Trigger or other spells might not be able to bring him to the edge.
While talking, Lucien brought a small but complicated alchemical cottage from his storage bag and tossed it in front of himself.
The dark gold cottage grew quickly into a magic laboratory that had a full alchemical platform.
“A portable alchemical platform?” Regaining his ability of action, Rhine observed the magic laboratory with great interest.
Lucien nodded his head. “We have been prepared for everything that might happen in the adventure in the World of Souls, including what we should do after our equipment is damaged…”
This time, Lucien did not need to spend tremendous time searching for materials to repair his magic items like when he was forced into the alternate dimension last time. Instead, he had prepared all the materials he needed according to his gear.
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“But we can’t stop here. The monster may come to us at any moment.” Rhine was not as weak as a moment ago. At least, the big wings on his back could be opened now.
Lucien found the necessary materials to repair the Shield of Truth and threw them into the portable magic laboratory with a smile. Then, he put the damaged ‘Shield of Truth’ on the alchemical platform and sent the repair procedures and requirements into the laboratory through telepathic bond. In the end, he said, “Please work on it, Pittsburgh.”
“Not a problem. Master, it will be repaired in half a day.” The ‘magic laboratory’ said delightfully.
Rhine’s lips twitched. “So, an alchemical life that can help with maintenance.”
“Pittsburgh is the brother of Pinocchio, my tower guard, and an alchemical life that Mr. Klaus and I developed together. Unless he is too severely damaged, he can even repair legendary items, which will save sorcerers a lot of time, particularly during an adventure.” Lucien introduced Pittsburgh. He felt rather gloomy when he mentioned Klaus.
Rhine put his handkerchief into his pocket and asked in confusion, “Pittsburgh is Pinocchio’s brother because they begin with the same letter?”
“Hehe.” Naturally, Lucien wouldn’t say that he named the alchemical life in such a way purely because of his bad humor.
After reducing the magic Lab he put it back into his storage bag, Lucien raised his head and looked at the everlasting grey hall, starting to calculate his current coordinates by collecting the environmental parameters. In the meantime, since the Shield of Truth was no longer usable, he naturally did not transform into a legendary knight again, but put back the Sword of Truth and prepared to deal with the dangers with magic.
Suddenly, Lucien changed his face. “This place is very close to the final spot that Mr. Maskelyne recorded. We pressed so deep into the Realm of Gates?”
“That’s a sad coincidence? I was unable to control the direction of Night Travel in that situation. I hoped to fly to somewhere near the Furnace of Souls, but as it turned out…” Rhine opened his hands gracefully and expressed his apology.
“Do you listen to ‘Arcana Voice’, too?” Lucien sensed the style of ‘Arcana Voice’ from Rhine’s rhetoric.
While he talked, he examined a black gate with magic and was prepared to open it.
Rhine combed his silver long hair and chuckled, “It’s a very interesting program. Lucien, are you going to where Maskelyne left his final coordinates?”
Lucien had shared the formula to calculate coordinates with him.
“Yes. To reach the entrance from here, we have to pass almost fifty grey halls. It’s hard for us to avoid the monster over such a long journey. Considering our status right now, we may be unable to escape from it.” Lucien stared at the black gate before him. “In such a case, we might as well go to the spot that Mr. Maskelyne left behind. Chances are that we will find records or items that will unravel the secrets of the monster and give us hope to win!”
The more difficult, dangerous and devastating the situation was, the more determined and unwavering Lucien would be. Even if he was to be killed, he would die on the way looking for an opportunity instead of surrendering to fate!
“I am going to take the monster by his throat!” Lucien cheered himself up in a low voice and opened the gate with Mage’s Hand.
A space of greyness was presented before Lucien’s eyes. Behind the gate was not a grey hall but a grey wilderness where monuments of the same color were standing!
The wilderness was so quiet and boundless that it was like a real world of death.
“Pleasant surprises may be behind the gates…” Rhine repeated what the paper fragments said. As a man with the title of ‘Observer’, he was full of interest in the unusual things. “It seems that behind the black gate is not just the grey hall. There are also worlds like alternate dimensions, in which there are probably precious items and unimaginable dangers.”
Lucien felt a strong toothache. “What a weird world. However, this wilderness full of tombstones is somewhat similar to the ‘Resting Place’, Vicente’s demiplane.”
“Perhaps, the worlds behind the gate are all kinds of places of death. Chances are that we will see duplicates of the nine floors of hell.” Rhine speculated.
Lucien was about to step forward, when he suddenly remembered something else. He asked in confusion, “If the monster could easily find us, why is he still not here?”
“When I was hunted by the monster, I did not have the time to catch my breath at all, and I had to summon the power of the Primordial Ancestor. Hehe. Perhaps, he is too busy dealing with other people to come after us… There’s perhaps only one monster.” Rhine recalled.
“Then, let’s find Mr. Maskelyne’s last possessions as soon as possible.” Enhancing himself with a space defense with the Space Staff, Lucien flew into the world of tombstones.
……
Inside the grey hall, Douglas and Fernando blinked out. They looked rather hasty, but they were still normal.
“Showing no anomalies or loopholes as both Lucien and Benedict III, it seems that a very uncanny monster is hiding in this place.” Fernando was as aggressive as before, not frustrated because they had to flee in a hurry.
Douglas said, deep in thought, “But the strength he displayed was only slightly higher than that of ‘Ivan’ in God’s Grace. It hadn’t reached Benedict III’s level, or we wouldn’t have escaped in one piece.”
Although he never fought Benedict III before, he had challenged Benedict II once. Without God’s Arrival, the two popes should be on par with each other.
“We were a bit panicked just now. We didn’t have to escape so aimlessly. We could’ve fought the monster and found a chance to retreat towards the entrance.” Fernando evaluated their previous performance and was not satisfied with himself.
Douglas calculated the coordinates and opened a gate with magic. “There’s still time to return right now. You will leave marks for Lucien.”
Although he thought that Lucien could barely survive the attack of a monster who was close to a demigod, he would still try to save him.
After the gate was opened, it was a warm spring behind the gate. However, there was not the slightest sense of life. Seven headless dwarfs were walking towards a forest with a grey coffin on their shoulders.