Chapter 1015 Race Against Time <TOC> Chapter 1017 Déjà Vu at the Scene
Previous page password is bold portion: 5$UswiGLWR?
Translator: SumTLMan
On this particular night, not a speck of peculiarity stirred the atmosphere.
Such serenity stirred both relief and an undercurrent of unease within Angel, who had been threading a treacherous path of constant tribulations.
“Perhaps I’m being overly cautious,” Angel thought to himself. After all, Whispering Wind Valley had been recognized as a sanctuary for wizards throughout the years, so feeling a sense of insecurity within its confines would be indeed peculiar.
The lantern extinguished only to be rekindled, its flickering cycle repeating twice.
A full twelve hours had elapsed since the closing of the interplanar passage the previous day, and the duo’s condition had substantially recovered.
“We should give it another try.”
Upon hearing Sanders’ declaration, Angel was prepared to offer his Fragment Ephemera. However, Sanders waved his hand in refusal, producing a glass bottle from within which another Fragment Ephemera resided.
As the story goes, when Gloria had learned of Sanders’ impending descent into the Abyss, she deliberately prepared several Fragment Ephemeras for him. The intent was to ensure his safe smuggling back from the Abyss in case of unforeseen circumstances, since Gloria had a favor to ask of Sanders.
Although Sanders believed the mishap with the interplanar passage the previous day was an isolated incident, he opted to change a few underlying conditions as a precaution.
Firstly, they altered their location. Whispering Wind Valley was not confined to a single underground cave. Sanders led Angel to another subterranean cavern, located ten kilometers away from their original spot. Secondly, Sanders adjusted the Wizarding World anchor point for the Fragment Ephemera. Previously, he had set the anchor point near the Savage Grottoes, but now, to cater to Angel’s wishes, he placed the coordinates on the frontier of the Arelle Principality, bordering the edge of the Paramjit Plateau.
Having altered two necessary prerequisites, Sanders was confident that they would not encounter another anomaly with the interplanar passage.
When a dark passage once again materialized before them, Sanders turned to Angel, stating, “The passage is ready. Let’s move.”
The interplanar passage appeared like a sinister maw, waiting to devour its prey, exuding an ominous aura. This sight whitened Angel’s complexion, his heart pounding like a war drum, and a cold sweat prickling on his back.
Sanders eyed Angel, surprised to see his legs quivering and the lingering traces of anxiety on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I sense something wrong. My heart is pounding, and I feel extremely uneasy,” said Angel, looking at the passage before him. The inexplicable pressure arising in his heart deterred him from taking the step forward.
From Angel’s blanched lips and the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, Sanders could tell that he wasn’t fabricating his apprehension.
Angel’s words made Sanders pay close attention, reminiscent of a wizard’s dream, sometimes marked with a hint of precognition. This sense of unprovoked palpitation could very well be the spiritual light of his natural psyche, warning him of impending danger.
When Sanders was still relatively weak, he experienced similar situations. Every choice he made was guided by intuition, avoiding anything that he felt was dangerous, and in hindsight, most of his decisions were proven right.
Now, Angel’s manifestation of this similar kind of intuition has made Sanders take note as well.
Of course, it could also be the aftermath of yesterday’s incident with the interplanar passage, causing a sort of false association in Angel. Seeing the interplanar passage again unconsciously brings back the terror of the previous day.
Regardless of the real situation, after pondering for a moment, Sanders said,
“Well then, Whispering Wind Valley is relatively safe, you stay here for now, and I’ll go in to check. If there’s no problem, I’ll come back for you.”
Sanders himself didn’t feel any threat from the interplanar passage in front of him, and so he decided to venture in nonetheless.
The ominous omen that this interplanar passage brought to Angel made him want to dissuade Sanders, but Sanders didn’t give him the chance to speak. After leaving behind his previous words, he turned and vanished into the darkness.
After Sanders disappeared, the pitch-black underground cave was left with only Angel.
Angel unconsciously stepped back a few paces. Near the interplanar passage, he felt an inexplicable danger.
But when he moved away from the interplanar passage’s range, a new sense of unease was awakened from deep within his heart. This unease didn’t come from the interplanar passage, but from the land itself.
Fear was pervasive.
Angel felt a strong urge to flee. But if he were to really run away, aside from the fact that the interplanar passage was here, he wouldn’t know his way around in the Abyss either.
All Angel could do was to sit tight with his anxiety in the pitch-dark cave, silently watching in the direction of the interplanar passage.
Time ticked by, and the interplanar passage remained as eerie as a monstrous maw.
Considering Sanders’s efficiency, he would have definitely been able to make a round trip through the interplanar passage by now, if nothing unexpected happened. However, strangely enough, there was no sign of Sanders coming out of the interplanar passage.
A bad guess began to surface in Angel’s mind: Could it be that the interplanar passage encountered danger again and something unexpected happened to Sanders?
It seemed that only this conjecture could explain the current situation.
“Wait, it could also be possible that the anchor point was changed, so the interplanar passage also changed its distance… or perhaps, there’s a time difference between the inside of the interplanar passage and the outside world?”
Angel found himself creating excuses to dispute the probable reality he was facing.
Yet, the passage of time served as relentless evidence, relentlessly whipping Angel’s psyche.
Half an hour later, no matter how many excuses Angel might muster, they could not obscure the increasingly clear conclusion — something was very likely wrong with Sanders.
In other words, the interplanar passage was indeed enshrouded in danger, as he had suspected…
Now, what should he do?
Should he continue to linger here, waiting for a faint hope? Or should he step onto an unknown and perilous alternative path?
After repeated consideration, Angel still chose to stay in the underground lava cave. If he left, it could be a path to certain doom; staying here, on the other hand, still offered a sliver of hope.
After all, even if something had truly happened to Sanders, given his abilities, Angel did not believe he would fall in the interplanar passage.
Angel firmly believed that at Sanders’ level, there must be some aces up his sleeve.
As long as Sanders was alive, there was hope for him staying here.
Angel waited quietly, and this waiting lasted for most of the day.
The interplanar passage did not vanish. It was still there, seemingly devoid of any danger, but the ominous aura that emanated from it never receded.
Angel stared at the interplanar passage, its black vortex appearing unfathomably deep. After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, a beam of light emerged from the vortex.
Much like the brilliant light produced when the interplanar passage collapsed yesterday, it was incredibly dazzling.
Could it be that the interplanar passage was collapsing again? And this time… Sanders hadn’t managed to escape?
As this thought crossed Angel’s mind, the light suddenly shot out like an arrow, piercing out from the interplanar passage and pointing directly at — Angel!
The speed of the light was far beyond Angel’s reaction time.
Just as this “Arrow of Light” broke through the interplanar passage and instantaneously arrived in front of a horrified Angel.
A faint glow suddenly emerged from Angel’s chest, absorbing this arrow entirely.
Before Angel could grasp the turn of events, the necklace that was constantly clinging to his chest, as though bereft of gravity, slowly levitated, suspending itself in front of him.
…
In the expansive Feran Continent, lies the Paramjit Plateau.
Wizards, within the entire Southern Region’s Wizarding World, are considered scarce elites of combat. In fact, many wizard organizations only require a couple of wizards as their figureheads to establish and flourish as a force.
However, presently, on the Paramjit Plateau, there gathered over a thousand, maybe even ten thousand wizards.
They hailed from all regions, all wizard organizations, all confluence here.
At this moment, all of them had their heads lifted, silently observing the world’s reflection in the sky.
The inverted image in the sky was an upside-down presentation of their view. The reflected scene was a desert shrouded in yellow sand. Amidst the sandstorm, one could vaguely make out buildings erected from stone; they appeared ancient yet firm, imbued with an exotic charm.
This reflection, hanging over the Paramjit Plateau, seemed like a mirage.
However, every wizard remaining here was well aware that it wasn’t an illusion or a phantasm. The world depicted in the reflection was palpable.
Because it was a portrayal of another world!
And the world within the reflection was the destination of this planar fusion!
Planar fusion has three stages, the first stage is the Bottle of Garden, the second stage is the Boundless Path, and the third stage is referred to as the Moment of Plunder.
All three stages could bring enormous benefits to wizards.
If we talk about maximizing benefits, the second stage, Boundless Path, might be the most dangerous, but it also presents the greatest opportunity.
Because the Boundless Path could actualize the planar coordinates, enabling the detection of the essences of various main worlds, leading everywhere with endless branching paths.
One could say this was a tremendous opportunity to venture into new planes, opening up new worlds!
However, the Boundless Path bears a limit of power, only those of legend and above can set foot on this infinite journey.
In the Southern Region of the Wizarding World, it has been an age since a legendary wizard has emerged. Hence, for the wizards, the greatest opportunities that come with every planar fusion are the “Bottle of Garden” and the “Moment of Plunder.”
The Bottle of Garden implies the process of “contributing to the Wizard Garden,” and the main ingredients for building a Wizard Garden, the Fragment of Constants, emerge at this point.
And the Moment of Plunder is now.
Taking advantage of the brief window of time after the fusion of both planes and before the passage is fully solidified, all wizards can prematurely enter the other plane and plunder its resources. Hence, it’s also known as the Moment of Plunder!
Now, the reflection of the sky has already manifested.
The planar fusion has reached its final stage. Once the fusion of both planes is complete, the time for the “Moment of Plunder” will come!
In the previous “Bottle of Garden,” although the Fragment of Constants thrown out were plentiful, those who managed to seize these fragments were mostly the real apex existences in the Wizarding World.
For instance, the Silencer and the Sea God.
Many ordinary wizards couldn’t gain anything during the Bottle of Garden phase, and the Boundless Path is unrelated to them, so what they look forward to is this final stage — the Plunder!
It can be said that the Moment of Plunder is the true jubilation for the vast majority of wizards present!
Chapter 1015 Race Against Time <TOC> Chapter 1017 Déjà Vu at the Scene