Chapter 1156 Holding Fire Sculpture <TOC> Chapter 1158 Popoca's Purpose
Translator: SumTLMan
As Angel pushed open this door, he noticed something was out of the ordinary.
The rooms he had previously encountered were mostly cramped, but this room was incredibly vast. Even before stepping in, Angel could tell that it was almost as large as an underground grand hall.
Unlike previous chambers, the air inside this room didn’t bear any traces of musty, foul smell.
The black and white checkered ceramic floor reflected a chilling cold light, instilling an eerie sensation of austere severity. It gave Angel an illusion as if he had stepped into an exhibit hall within the Hunting Museum.
Not only was the room’s chilling air reminiscent of an exhibit hall, but the contents inside were also strikingly similar.
——The room was quite bare except for four statues standing in the center, each facing a different direction.
From a distance, these sculptures seemed very similar to the specimens in the exhibition hall. Only upon close inspection did one notice that the statues had a stony texture to their ‘skin’.
At the center of the statues stood a display stand. On it lay a massive crimson battle-axe, carved with mysterious runes.
Even a cursory glance at the axe made Angel feel a terrifying oppressive force emanating from it, as if he were gazing upon an endless sea of blood.
With just one look, Angel knew this was no ordinary artifact.
Moreover, the axe seemed to have been forged using a technique Angel had never seen before. As an alchemist, he couldn’t resist the urge to examine it further, even entertaining a tinge of greed to make it his own.
However, as Angel was about to step forward, a sense of danger sprang from the deepest recesses of his mind.
This vague premonition of danger halted him in his tracks.
Why was there a sense of danger? The room seemed empty and harmless at first glance. Was there a hidden trap, or did the danger stem from the axe, or… Angel’s eyes slowly moved towards the four statues standing beside the axe.
He hadn’t taken a good look at them before, but upon closer scrutiny, he noticed something was off.
These sculptures seemed to represent — gargoyles?!
Angel instinctively took a step back. It was only natural for gargoyles to have a stony exterior! Moreover, when a gargoyle is in hibernation, it looks precisely like a statue, devoid of any sign of life. But, if one gets too close, intruding into its territory, it wakes from its slumber.
Many demon nobles, drawn to this characteristic, keep gargoyles as guardians due to their seeming inactivity until provoked.
Angel couldn’t tell whether this gargoyle was merely a statue or… a hibernating gargoyle. Even though the odds were fifty-fifty, he was not willing to gamble his life on the outcome.
Even if that axe was powerful, Angel would only use it for research if he got it. Risking his life for it was by no means worth it.
With that thought, Angel swiftly turned and decisively closed the door behind him.
With the door closed, the room plunged into darkness once again. In a place Angel couldn’t see, one of the sculptures opened its eyes, emitting a crimson light that quickly disappeared. It seemed to sense something in the air, but ultimately it didn’t make any movement. It closed its eyes again and fell back into slumber.
…
Unaware of it, Angel had narrowly escaped danger due to his caution.
Now, he continued to search for an exit. However, it was strange that every door he had opened so far led to enclosed spaces.
He hadn’t found a way to the upper levels, nor had he seen an exit.
It was quite peculiar.
Angel stepped out of another “kitchen” and pondered, “Could it be that the holding fire sculptures only represent these enclosed rooms, while the signs pointing to the way out are actually something else?”
Despite circling around, he hadn’t seen any other noticeable signs apart from the holding fire sculptures… or had he? Wait a minute, Angel suddenly paused. If we’re talking about noticeable signs, it seems there might be one after all.
Angel seemed to have a realization and quickly walked towards the source of the light.
It was the resting area in the hallway.
If we’re talking about more noticeable signs, then the resting area was the only one left!
Angel had even rested there before!
Following the light source with his gaze, Angel arrived at the holding fire sculpture next to the sofa in the resting area, and his eyes lit up. This holding fire sculpture was much larger, a whole size bigger than the wall lamps in other places. He had passed by it several times before, never considering this holding fire sculpture!
If, by any chance, this holding fire sculpture can also move… then it most likely represents the way out that he had been searching for!
With this in mind, Angel decisively reached out and touched the arm of the holding fire sculpture.
Familiar clicking sounds reached his ears, and when Angel turned around, he saw that the entire wall behind the resting area had flipped over, forming a wide passage.
Just as expected! A look of realization flashed through Angel’s eyes. This time, he had overlooked the answer right in front of him while overthinking and ended up in the dark.
Although he had found a path, the journey ahead was still unknown.
Carefully, Angel stepped forward and instantly disappeared into the darkness.
Angel thought that behind the darkness might be the way out, but it turned out not to be the case. It was still a corridor, with similar decorations and style to the previous one, including holding fire sculptures and resting areas.
Angel mentally mapped it out. This place seemed like a Labyrinth of Corridors because each corridor had multiple resting areas, which meant there were many possible paths.
After careful consideration, Angel realized that although it appeared complicated, finding a way out wasn’t actually difficult.
He let the scouting puppet take a turn in this corridor and obtained a piece of data. The distance in this corridor is obviously shorter than the previous one. If the maze of corridors here is progressive, it means that he is closer to the center of the Void Obelisk than the previous corridor.
Angel calculated in his mind that perhaps the path to the second level should be the exact center of the Void Obelisk. It may require passing through many layers of corridors to reach it.
However, he doesn’t want to go to the higher levels of the Void Obelisk, but to leave this place. So, he doesn’t need to go inward, but outward.
In other words, his current path is actually wrong.
Angel returns to the resting place he came from and finds another resting place in that corridor to exit.
Sure enough, with Angel’s choice, the distance of each corridor noticeably increases, which means he is getting closer to the outer ring.
Ten minutes later, Angel steps into the new outer ring.
As he steps out, he immediately experiences a completely different feeling from before. In the previous corridors, everything seemed calm, and no sound could be heard, dark and desolate.
But now, Angel clearly perceives that the floor is vibrating slightly, and the energy in the air is not as stable as before.
This means he has already approached the outermost ring!
After receiving this confirmation, Angel quickly rushes towards the next resting place. He has a feeling that perhaps the next layer of corridors is the outermost layer, the exit of the Void Obelisk!
Soon, he finds a new resting place, and Angel suppresses his excitement as his figure gradually merges into the darkness.
While Angel is still in the darkness and has not reached the next corridor, he already feels a stronger vibration on the ground. At the same time, he faintly hears a distant angry shout, sounding like Komodo’s voice.
Angel is delighted because hearing Komodo’s voice means that he is not far from the exit.
However, when the darkness dissipates and Angel enters the new corridor, he suddenly stops.
In front of him is a resting place, but it is different from the previous ones.
Because on the couch in this resting place sits a huge figure.
This is a strange creature that Angel has never seen before, with terrifying and smooth meat wings, skin with a strange red hue, covered in bumps and spikes, with green viscous liquid constantly dripping from the pores.
The “alien” sits on the couch like this, and when Angel appears, it lifts its terrifying head and glances at Angel.
With just one glance, Angel suddenly feels a peculiar sense of familiarity.
This familiarity, he had felt it not long ago in the underground hall, when he caught a glimpse of a figure at the entrance. Judging by the body shape, they seemed to be the same person?
Angel temporarily puts aside the eerie sense of familiarity. The most crucial thing now is how to deal with this alien?
As Angel’s thoughts race in his mind, a rustling sound suddenly reaches his ears.
“This sound, it seems like…” Angel seems to have figured something out and looks up abruptly.
But I saw on the shoulder of that alien, suddenly a flaming chain appeared. This chain slowly moved out from his shoulder and extended forward into thin air, with Angel as its target.
Angel wanted to step back, but for some reason, under the lock of this chain, his body couldn’t move at all.
When the chain reached Angel’s front, it lifted its “head” like a snake, slowly.
Angel also saw the details on the chain.
His pupils contracted, this chain was clearly… the one he had made for Popoca!
And Popoca’s chain had undergone a blood soul sacrifice, it couldn’t have been used by anyone else!
If that’s the case, then could this alien in front of him be Popoca?
Upon further consideration, it seemed plausible. After all, Angel had clearly seen Popoca at the lava pool in the outside world. The only discrepancy was the earth-shattering change in appearance.
Angel’s gaze turned towards the alien sitting on the sofa and asked with a skeptical tone, “Are you… Popoca?”
With Angel’s inquiry, the alien finally raised its head and stared directly at Angel.
His eyes carried a strange sense of clarity, one side was the unrestrained madness, and the other side was absolute rationality and indifference.
“Why are you here? Are you trying to stop me? Indeed, I shouldn’t have allowed you to forge the chain back then, I should have killed you!” At first, his tone was calm, but suddenly, his voice escalated several times, “But it’s too late now, no one can stop me!”
Chapter 1156 Holding Fire Sculpture <TOC> Chapter 1158 Popoca's Purpose