Chapter 3038: Chapter 3039: Skipping the Gate
"This face Pattern doesnât necessarily have anything to do with the Enchantress, but since the Enchantress can use the power of a contract to commit murder, that means there must be some method to simplify the process of forming a contract, or to hide the conditions for a contractâs recognition." Dox said this, glanced at the face Pattern, and added, "So we canât underestimate any detail."
Kaier: "...What youâre saying makes sense, but back in the Underground Aqueduct, I didnât see you being this picky about details?"
Back when they first started exploring the Underground Aqueduct, it had clearly been more dangerous than now.
Dox gave a light snort and said along the Mind Ribbon, "Itâs different."
Angel: "Different how?"
Dox said, as if it were only natural, "When I was in the Underground Aqueduct, my inspiration didnât give me a âbeware contractsâ warning, so of course itâs different."
Angel: "..." As expected, there was no point hoping Dox would rationally analyze the intricacies here.
But he had to admit, Doxâs inspiration was terrifyingly strong.
Like this time: even though they still hadnât confirmed whether the face Pattern would use a contract to bind them, after Doxâs round of "inspiration playing on their behalf," Angel and Kaier really had been convinced.
Kaier was already thinking: they had to avoid communicating with the face Pattern so they wouldnât fall for anythingâso what should they do next?
This line of thought already tacitly accepted that what Dox said wasnât false.
"So what do we do next?" Facing Kaierâs question, Dox reached out his right hand to rub his chin, pondered for a moment, then shrugged. "Anyway, just donât communicate with the face Pattern, and donât go playing any games. Other than that, there shouldnât be much else."
In this small space that had been partitioned off, the only place Dox sensed his inspiration stir was on the face Pattern. Everything else seemed normal; for the moment, he hadnât found any problems.
"But the only way to the next area here is through the face Pattern." Kaier muttered along the Mind Ribbon.
It wasnât like they hadnât searched this area; aside from the big banyan tree where the face Pattern was located, there was nowhere else that looked like a clue.
"That... I think youâre right." Dox said, "But I donât have any other methods. Or, put it this way: are you willing to blindly sign some unknown contract with the Wizard behind the scenes? Donât forget the cautionary tale of the laborers in the ruin."
Kaier certainly didnât dare to casually sign a baffling contract, but were they just going to sit here and waste time now?
While Kaier and Dox were both at a loss, Angel was staring at the space barrier, sinking into thought.
Half a minute later, Angel said along the Mind Ribbon, "Actually, thereâs another way."
Dox: "What way?"
Angel: "I just checked the parameters on the space barrier and found that theyâre the same as the overall space Sealing that shrouds Paradise Land."
When Angel said this, Dox still didnât understand, but Kaier, as a Space Mage, had already grasped Angelâs meaning. His eyes suddenly lit up. "My lord, you mean the space barrier and the space Sealing are one and the same?!"
Angel nodded. "Thatâs right."
Dox finally caught on as well. "So you can directly punch a hole in the space barrier here and enter other areas?"
...Punch a hole? Do you take me for a mole?
Angel griped inwardly, but he also knew Dox simply had a problem expressing himself. He nodded, more or less agreeing with Doxâs phrasing.
Dox: "Then thatâs great! As long as it doesnât involve the face Pattern, and we enter other areas through other means, thereâs no problem."
With their next step decided, they immediately moved away from the face Pattern.
Perhaps because of some trigger mechanism, the face Pattern didnât try to force them to stay. It simply watched them leave in silence, then closed its eyes as if it had fallen asleep.
Angel and the others went to the other side of the space barrier.
They found the direction where Speedyâs sense of his Avatar was strongest, planning to open a Door there leading to another area.
Since Angel had already cracked the outer space Sealing, with identical parameters he didnât even need to calculate; opening a new Door was easy.
However, although the Door was open, the inside was pitch-black; they couldnât see the bottom at a glance.
"What kind of area is behind this barrier? Why is it so dark?" Kaier asked in puzzlement.
"Who knows where it is? None of us have ever been to this Paradise Land. Besides, dark is dark; I donât feel any danger anyway." Dox said carelessly.
Kaier: "True, as long as thereâs no danger, the rest isnât that important."
While the two of them were muttering, Angel quietly said, "The dark region youâre seeing isnât the scene behind the barrier."
"???"
Facing their puzzled looks, Angel didnât explain and simply said, "Youâll know once you go in."
Angel was the first to step through the Door, and Dox and Kaier exchanged a glance before following.
Once they passed through the Door, Kaier immediately came to an Enlightenment of what Angel meant. "Weâre... inside the space barrier?"
This time Angel didnât keep them in suspense; he nodded. "Yes."
Indeed, the darkness beyond the Door didnât mean the area on the other side of the barrier was pitch-black; it was because this space barrier was extremely thick.
The dark region they were in nowâput plainlyâwas still "inside the Door." They had stepped into the Door but hadnât yet stepped out of it.
This space barrier was deeper than theyâd imagined. They walked several dozen steps without reaching the other side of the barrier. In fact, after walking for a while, they even felt a slope.
It seemed the barrierâs path wasnât a simple face-to-face alignmentâthere was a slope?
Furthermore, this slope was uphill, as if it were leading toward midair?
After another ten-plus steps, they finally saw the "other side of the Door," which was the back of the space barrier.
Contrary to their expectations, the place beyond the Door wasnât midair, but something like a cavern. The cavern itself wasnât particularly dark either; they could see burning torches set into the walls.
After stepping through the Door, they carefully observed and compared, and could basically confirm... they were now inside a cave.
There were mountains in Paradise Land.
Rocky mountain environments were favored by many Earth Element Wizards.
So it was highly likely they were inside some mountain body within a rocky environment.
But why would the back of the space barrier be inside a mountain body, instead of the outer rocky environment?
Looking at the torches burning at intervals along the cave walls, Kaier seemed to think of something. "Could this be one of those game arenas shown in the face Pattern banyan treeâs eyes?"
Earlier, they had seen a mass of information in the eyes of the face Pattern: undersea brawls, underwater gold rush, bubble world, highland melee... and so on.
From this, it was clear that some Wizard behind the scenes had turned Paradise Land into a series of game arenas.
If that was really the case, then they were probably in one of the game arenas now.
Thinking of this, Kaier frowned. "Does that mean we still have to âplay gamesâ with that unknown mastermind next?"
While Kaier was still puzzled, Dox said softly, "I think I sense a faint Bloodline aura nearby."
Kaier: "A faint Bloodline aura?"
Dox nodded. "Itâs the Bloodline aura of a Fire Salamander."
Pausing for a moment, Dox spoke in a rather nostalgic tone: "Such a familiar aura. Back when I was still an Apprentice, I also fused with this Bloodline. But after I fused with the Fire Salamander, I was one of the best among my peers. What Iâm smelling now is completely differentâmixed, weak, and messy."
Dox: "I can basically confirm that this Bloodline aura should be coming from an Apprentice. Very likely not from the Bloodline side, otherwise the intensity would be way too low. Iâd guess itâs from some Mysterious-side Apprentices."
As Dox said this, he deliberately glanced at Kaier.
Kaier opened his mouth, but in the end he still didnât speak. He only muttered silently in his heart: I never fused with a Fire Salamander Bloodline.
There was no doubt that Dox was teasing Kaier, but his guess was very probably correct.
The hallmark of the Fire Salamander Bloodline was thick skin and strong endurance.
It was also very suitable for thin-skinned Element-side Apprentices, but in the Apprentice stage, the Element side had far too many defensive Tricksâseveral times, even dozens of times more than the Mysterious side.
So if they really wanted to fuse a Bloodline, Element-side Apprentices leaned more toward Bloodlines that amplified Elements.
A pure thick-skin Bloodline like the Fire Salamander was indeed more inclined toward close-combat Bloodline Apprentices, or Mysterious-side Apprentices whose self-defense abilities were relatively weak.
Since Dox had confirmed that the other party was not a Bloodline Apprentice, then only the possibility of a Mysterious-side Apprentice remained.
"Letâs go take a look," Angel said.
If it were an Official Wizard, they might need to be more cautious, but an Apprentice... there was nothing to worry about.
They might even be able to ask that Apprentice what exactly had happened in Paradise Land earlier. And who that Wizard who had spoken about "playing a game" really was.
Dox naturally didnât refuse. "Follow me, it should be nearby."
Dox took the lead and started guiding the way. Before long, they stepped into the darkness...
...
At the same time, in a vast Earth Cavern lit by countless torches, there stood an arena covered by a domed canopy.
Below the arena lay a group of people. Among them were three Official Wizards; the rest were Apprentices.
These fallen Official Wizards looked extremely miserable, as if they had been savagely abused. Some were even missing arms or legs... The only fortunate thing was that they were still breathing and hadnât completely died.
However, they still could not move, nor could they receive Magic Power support from the outside world, because they were all locked down by Space Sealing on all sides.
The Space Sealing was like transparent coffins, sealing them inside.
This was the consequence of losing in the arena.
All they could do now was silently cheer, in their hearts, for that figure constantly darting about above the stage.
Only by defeating that masked man who had initiated the "game challenge" would they have a way to leave the Space Sealing.
And at this moment, the only one who could defeat the masked man was the Moon Elder of the Birlos Family.
The two figures on the arena, so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye, were precisely the Moon Elder and the masked man.
The Moon Elder and the masked man were both moving rapidly. Their attacks were delivered and withdrawn in an instant, each seeking the best timing and the opponentâs openings.
It wasnât that the Moon Elder wanted to choose this almost hand-to-hand kind of fight; rather, after observing the previous battles, she had already determined that the masked man was extremely powerful in Energy manipulation.
She could not give him any chance to unleash an Energy Attack, especially Space Sorcery.
And to interrupt the opponentâs casting, she had to be faster than him. So the Moon Elder chose to suppress her opponent with Bloodline Power, attempting to gain the upper hand through close-quarters combat.
Whether the Moon Elderâs strategy would work was still unknown for the moment. But the masked man had indeed given up Energy Attacks and engaged the Moon Elder in this phantom-like contact battle.
The more they fought, the more the Moon Elder felt her strategy was correct.
Because the arena had boundaries: if the opponent left the arena, he would immediately be judged the loser. Close-in pursuit not only disrupted the opponentâs casting, it also prevented the masked man from opening up distance.
This was a rule set by the masked man himself, yet it had become the shackle that bound him!
"An opening!"
In the heat of battle, the Moon Elder suddenly noticed that the masked man seemed to go absent-minded for a moment, his speed clearly slowing by a beat.
She was very sure the masked man wasnât deliberately luring her in.
So the Moon Elder naturally would not let this chance slip by. Without any hesitation, she flooded both hands with Bloodline Power and slammed them viciously toward the masked man.
Even though the masked man reacted, because of that half-second of sluggishness, it was still very difficult for him to dodge this savage strike.
He could only twist his body to the side to divert some of the force.
The raging palm strike still landed on the masked man. It was just that, because it hit his arm, he did not collapse on the spot.
But he was still blasted back several steps.
Now that the Moon Elder had the advantage, she naturally wouldnât show mercy. She closed in on the masked man at high speed, trying to continue the previous cycle.
Just as the Moon Elder was about to reach the masked man, he suddenly extended a finger, and a light shield with Space attributes appeared directly in front of him.
Light Air Shield.
This most commonly used defensive Space Spell Technique was something the Moon Elder naturally recognized. She just hadnât expected the opponent to skip the casting process altogether and simply bring it out.
This was a Spell Technique from a Witchcraft Slot!
Up to now, the masked man had never released any Spell Technique or Trick from a Witchcraft Slot. Now, he finally revealed it.
An ominous glint flashed in the Moon Elderâs eyes. Breaking a Light Air Shield wasnât difficult, but the process of breaking it would be enough time for the masked man to gather an even more powerful offensive Spell Technique.
By then, she might not be able to withstand it.
Although the Moon Elder already sensed danger, she was like an arrow nocked on the string and had no choice but to fire. She could only attack the Light Air Shield as fast as possible, trying to shatter it before the masked man could deploy other means.
What surprised the Moon Elder was that the masked man didnât cast any other Spell Techniques, but simply let her break the shield.
He even turned his head, under her gaze, to look off in a certain direction.
Was this just a trick to divert her attention? The Moon Elder did not follow his line of sight and continued her attack.
At this moment, the masked man, his back now to her, suddenly said, "...A newcomer has entered the game, but without using the proper method. That wonât do."
"Looks like the fun here will have to end first."