Chapter 147: Already Dead
Inside the black and white shadow realm, the bloody mud that constantly surged out from the black smoke looked as though it was alive and tumbling. They were constantly flowing out from the smoke but would constantly vanish. They would never be able to extend further than the black smoke. They were like some kind of disgusting, bone-chilling mollusks. While they were flipping around, they would constantly emit a distracting and strange turbid sound. In the beginning, Gawain thought the sound was a normal sound produced when the mud was flipping around. However, he quickly realized that the rumbling sound was like a mutter that could be heard when someone was dreaming. It was impossible to hear any logical information form the evil and chaotic sound; it merely brought fear, frustration, and disturbance.
It wasnât only Gawain; not even Amber had seen such strange things in the shadow realm. It obviously corresponded with the place of the breeding vessel, but this bloody mud was different from the âreflectionâ rule between the shadow realm and the real world. It was obviously a distorted thing that shouldnât exist. Instead of saying it was âreflectedâ in this place, it would be better to say that there was some reason it was occupying this place.
Gawain used an instinctively disgusted face to look at the mud that constantly oozed out from the black smoke before turning to look at Amber. âWhat is this thingâŠ? It is these things that frightened you?â
He felt it was rather strange. This bloody mud might give off an unpleasant feeling and would constantly mutter something that would make a person distracted; furthermore, there was a strange power that was constantly attempting to play a horrific film in Gawainâs mind. But those iMages didnât do anything apart from allowing Gawain to recall the stimulation when watching a horror film at night in his previous life. Amber was a fearless person and would even dare to sneak into an ancestorâs tomb during the Dark Wave. She might be shocked by this mud, but it was strange that she was frightened stiff.
Amber felt it was rather strange too. She looked at the mud with lingering fear and said, âYes⊠Thatâs right⊠When I merely took a glance at these things earlier, it was so horrifying that I felt my mind was about to explode. Even when I recalled its appearance, I would have brief hallucinations in my mind. I donât know what happened now⊠These things might still be disgusting, but I donât feel those spiritual attacks anymore.â
âIs that so?â Gawain looked at Amber before frowning and looking back at the mud. Immediately after, he gripped the Sword of Pioneers and walked carefully towards the source of the mud.
A certain intuition told him that the âaberration fusionâ that had bizarrely tough vitality was related to this pile of mud in the shadow realm. If he didnât eliminate this pile of mud here, the investigation on the other side would probably never be able to be conducted successfully.
When Amber saw Gawain walking forward, she followed behind while perspiring cold sweat. When facing such abnormal beings that were beyond common sense, oneâs combat ability would obviously become unreliable. However, at the next moment, she was so stunned while she stared with wide eyes.
As Gawain took each step forward, that constantly surging bloody mud actually retreated bit by bit!
In the beginning, it wasnât very obvious, but after Gawain took a few more steps, the mud that extended in all directions had actually caved in significantly. It was so obvious that anyone could see it.
Gawain was also startled by this situation. He took one step forward, and the mud would take one step back. When he stood still, the mud had also stood in place and was squirming on the spot.
âWhat is going on?â Amberâs astonished voice echoed from the back. âThese things seem to be⊠afraid of you?â
âInstead of saying it is afraid, why not say that it is a kind of biological or instinctive reflex?â Gawain frowned as he couldnât understand why the mud would be retreating from him. However, it didnât matter as Gawain continued to advance while saying, âThis is good. Saves me a lot of work.â
The mud in front of Gawain had finally retreated back into the black smoke. As Gawain continued to walk forward, even that black smoke started to contract and change forms, causing it to reveal a gap. Through the gap, Gawain saw the neatly arranged runes and magic crystals that were still emitting a faint light.
Magic circle? It isnât a magic circle reflected from the real world to the shadow realm, but a real magic circle constructed in the shadow realm?!
Could it be the work of the Gondor Empireâs Master Mages?
Gawain was rather astonished, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt it wasnât really all that amazing. Gondor Empireâs magical technology was far beyond the current era. At that time, the unique human magic system was something that even amazed the elves. Even though the humans back then didnât find out what the nature of the shadow realm was, but it didnât affect those powerful Master Mages from having the ability to enter the shadow realm.
Amber stood far away from the bloody mud, and when she noticed that Gawain didnât move for a long time, she waved her hand and shouted, âHave you discovered something?â
âA magic circle that is constructed on âthis sideâ.â Gawain didnât lift his head and answered, âIt seems like this testing facility is constructed in two parts. The real worldâs facility is one of the parts, and the other part is constructed inside the shadow realmâŠâ
Amber was obviously surprised. âWow! That eraâs humans are incredible. They can enter the shadow realm too?â
âThe people from that era are so incredible that you cannot imagine,â Gawain replied casually before stepping into the range of the black smoke. As he crouched down and was looking for the magic circleâs core, the black smoke constantly withdrew, allowing the complicated and massive magic circle to slowly become complete in Gawainâs vision.
Using his theoretical knowledge that wasnât considered bad, Gawain quickly determined that this magic circle was extremely different from normal magic circles. Only a portion of it was considered âmagicalâ, using regular spell runes or element runes. However, the other portions were carved with special symbols called the âsacred sealsâ or âsacred runesâ.
Those symbols werenât a part of the magic system and were seals that were regularly used by members of the religions. It was said that they originated from the Eternal Stone Slate, and their function was to remove obstructions from connecting with the godâs power. When using such symbols, the âcirclesâ that were drawn wouldnât be considered as a âmagic circleâ, it should be a theurgy circle.
In Gawainâs general knowledge, theurgy circles and magic circles were two things that would never fit together. In front of him⊠was the fused product of the theurgy circle and the magic circle!
Furthermore, this fused magic circleâs functions seemed to be particularly complex. As of now, Gawain had already noticed more than twenty rune combinations used for control and also a large number of runes that were used for the charging of energy⊠Such energy-charging runes were rather rare during the Gondor Empire era; after all, most of the magical pieces of equipment were basically powered by the magic from the Well of Deep Blue. There was rarely any equipment extracting energy from the environment which was deemed to be âlow efficiencyâ. Yet, this equipment in the shadow realm had a magic circle that was filled with a complex and massive energy-charging structureâŠ
No matter how strange this magic circle was, its size was still limited. As the black smoke continued to withdraw away from Gawain, its core region was finally exposed. Gawainâs eyes were frozen at the moment he saw the magic circleâs core.
Even if we defied the gods⊠Devouring the flesh of gods⊠Eat heartilyâŠ
As these maniacal words appeared in his mind, Gawainâs line of sight was fixed on that object for a long time without moving.
It was a piece of a man-made crystal that was a square of one foot on each side. It was sealing a piece of some extremely bizarre organismâs tissue inside.
Gawain could only use âbizarre organismâs tissueâ to describe what he had seen because he couldnât recognize what living creature would have such flesh. It was dark red in color, and it didnât have any blood vessels, tendons, muscles, or anything similar. However, there was a blood-like fluid constantly revolving around its surrounding. It was probably sealed inside the crystal for at least a thousand years but still was still gradually squirmingâŠ
It was just like an undying heart.
The truth was at the point of disclosure. Gawain didnât dare to believe the bold association that he developed in his mind, but if the words on the testing hallâs walls were true, and if those crazy and preposterous manuscript records were true, then there wasnât a need to suspect what the thing inside this crystal was.
Ultimately, Gawain decided to believe his own judgment as he recalled the âbattlefield communicationsâ recorded into the Eternal Stone Slate.
The gods were dead; therefore, it wasnât hard to imagine that their flesh would fall into the mortal realm.
If there was a pious believer here or anybody with common sense in this place, after they realized what was inside the crystal, they would probably lose all manner of speech and ability to move due to shock and fear. But Gawain was different; he was just worried if this bundle of âgodâs fleshâ would suddenly jump and drench his face in blood. After all, such bizarre things would always mean great danger, but when Gawain looked at how terrified the bloody mud and black smoke were, it seemed like this bundle of flesh was even more afraid of himâŠ
Gawain used the Sword of Pioneers to carefully poke at the crystal. The organism tissue within the crystal merely shivered a little, but after careful observation, there werenât any other changes.
In short, it didnât seem dangerous.
Gawain sheathed his sword and bent over to pick up the man-made crystal cube. It was rather heavy, but it wasnât anything to Gawain. When the crystal cube was lifted off the ground, the âmagic-theurgy circleâ, the surrounding black smoke, and bloody mud vanished in an instant.
The runes had forcefully operated for a few seconds after losing the core, while the remaining magic crystals on the magic circle rapidly dimmed. Finally, this place was only left with complex and mysterious runes that were nothing more than an anomaly.
âThis⊠What is itâŠ?â Amber looked at Gawain with an anxious expression as he carried a large crystal out. This was the first time in her life that she saw something sparkling but didnât have the thought to steal it. âWhy⊠why do I feel my blood running cold just by looking at it?!â
âYou really wish to know?â Gawain carried this organism tissue that was probably from the gods, and looked at Amber with a dull smile, and said, âWith your brains, you should be able to guess something, right?â
âIâŠâ Amber suddenly opened her eyes before taking a deep cold breath. âYou arenât kidding right?!â
âThe legends say that there was a war between gods in ancient times, and gods had fallen into the mortal realm, allowing the mortals to possess Beyonder powers including magic. Since the godsâ powers could fall into the mortal realm, how isnât it possible for their flesh to fall down too?â Gawain laughed but didnât talk about the actual information he obtained from the Eternal Stone Slateâs shard. Instead, he used the ancient legend of the war between gods to explain this matter. After all, no matter how eccentric and unorthodox Amber was, she was still a local native with this worldâs common sense and was also a self-proclaimed pious believer of the Goddess of Shadows. If he was to tell her that all gods might be dead and who knew what the mortals were praying to, she might not be able to accept it. But the legend of the war between gods was something that existed since ancient times. Such an explanation was something she should be able to accept.
After all, it was quite convincing to say that a god or two might have fallen when they were in a conflict. But to say that they were wiped out by some Zenith Galactic Fleet was simply a wholly different goddamned perspectiveâŠ
Seeing how Amber nodded pensively, Gawain silently decided, âIf it is necessary, I can also use the explanation to the people âoutsideâ.â
He didnât wish for the talents that he had gathered after all the hard work to completely collapse after hearing his twisted common senseâŠ
Even if they had to collapse, they had to collapse in a proper and orderly manner.
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