Chapter 484 Hourglass Timer <TOC> Chapter 486 The Outside World in Chaos
Translator: SumTLMan
The boundary between the lava zone and the wasteland.
A barren hill full of dried cracks, nearly a hundred people were either floating or standing, laughing or silently gathered here. In the center of the crowd, there was a cold-looking man in a silver-white uniform.
If Angel were here, he would recognize the proud and disdainful handsome man in the center as Dela, one of the top ten core apprentices of Sky Mechanical City, or rather, the Dela transformed by Carvelyn.
“Dela, I think you know the situation very well.” The one speaking was a dark-skinned, bald woman with heavy makeup, wearing a purple robe that exposed her shoulders and thighs: “Tell us, what are the rules for this blood sacrifice? And where is the exit?”
Dela, however, remained silent, his eyes full of provocation.
“What do you mean? Do you think you can fight all of us alone?” The bald woman touched the large round pendant hanging from her earlobe, looking askance at Dela: “If you insist on staying silent, don’t blame us for taking action.”
“Zuguli, if you want to do it, do it yourself. Don’t drag us into it.” A plump woman with a bronze complexion and a greasy body shouted from the back: “We just want to talk to Mr. Dela and chat. We didn’t plan to fight.”
She was defended in front of everyone, but someone in the back was trying to undermine her. Zuguli’s eyes narrowed, and she turned to look at the speaker: “Who is it? It turns out it’s Tana. I’ve been doing well, and your drunkard Mentor dared to let you come to the Purification Garden, not afraid that you would be killed as soon as you entered?”
“Or,” Zuguli’s eyes turned, looking at the young man standing next to Tana: “Did you find a new backer with your legs that can’t close?”
Zuguli’s insinuation caused the surrounding onlookers to show knowing smiles.
Tana’s attire was very revealing, with only a triangular piece of cloth covering the peaks of her breasts, but the tiny protrusions were clearly visible to anyone who wasn’t blind. In addition, she exposed her belly and thighs, her skin shiny and her eyes seductive, looking like a fallen woman.
Many young and vigorous male apprentices, just seeing Tana’s outfit, had their eyes popping out. Even the chubby boy next to Tana was looking at her with a lewd smile, his nostrils faintly bleeding.
Therefore, Zuguli’s sarcasm was something everyone secretly agreed with.
Tana herself didn’t care about these rumors, and she dressed this way simply for ease of movement; but her childhood friend—Hermes—couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Zuguli, you can’t talk nonsense. If you don’t take back what you said, don’t think about leaving the Purification Garden. It’s not bad to be buried here as a tomb.” Hermes said coldly, with a whip of flame in his hand, he fiercely waved it toward the ground, and a crack that went deep into the ground extended directly in front of Zuguli.
In fact, as soon as Zuguli’s words left her mouth, she felt a little regret. It was fine to ridicule Tana, but involving Hermes would be more trouble than it was worth. Besides, she couldn’t beat Hermes.
With that in mind, Zuguli decided to back down: “Hermes, I didn’t mean…”
Before she could finish her sentence, a slightly childish voice suddenly came from the crowd: “Little White, stop her!”
Immediately afterward, a white sand rhino charged out, its sharp horn accompanied by rolling sand and dust, aiming directly at Zuguli.
Initially planning to lower her head, Zuguli was startled by this sudden attack. Her eyes darkened, and her peaceful intentions vanished. She dodged the rhino’s charge by stepping in the air repeatedly, and with a flick of both hands toward the ground, countless black, leafless, and rootless flowers grew in the direction of her magic, continuously spreading outward from her thoughts.
“Black Mandragora, the scent of death,” someone recognized the flowers covering the ground. This was a unique spell, like an illusion, almost impossible to learn without inheriting it.
“It’s too late, Little White, come back!” a young voice called out, but it was too late.
The white sand rhino was already surrounded by Black Mandragora!
Zuguli’s expression turned fierce: “You attacked me first, don’t blame me for not being polite!”
Death and withering. Countless Black Mandragora petals began to drift, completely encircling the white sand rhino.
Just as the situation was becoming dire, a piercing cold wind blew, freezing the petals of the Black Mandragora into shards of frost.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Zuguli’s back, where they saw Dela dressed in a silver-white uniform, raising her right hand with frosty air swirling around her slender fingertips. Her white cape billowed in the chilly wind.
The cold wind came from Dela!
Just as Zuguli was about to question Dela, she suddenly turned around and walked towards the lava zone.
“You want to run?!” Zuguli leaped forward, trying to strike Dela from behind, but before her magic could reach, it was repelled by an intense cold.
Zuguli shivered and stumbled.
Despite being an elite apprentice, she was still somewhat outmatched against Dela.
“You must be a fool. Isn’t Dela’s intention obvious? He wants us to follow him,” said a childlike voice as it reached Zuguli’s ears. She looked up to see a young boy riding on the white sand rhino, staring at her with disdain.
Hermes patted the young boy’s forehead: “Loki, say less. And who told you to order Little White to charge earlier? Don’t always be hot-headed; otherwise, you’ll lose the argument.”
After speaking, Hermes, followed by Loki, trailed behind Dela. The others followed suit, keeping pace with Dela.
As they were about to enter the scorched earth, Dela suddenly flew into the air and turned her head to give everyone a disdainful look, as if to say: “If you’re too afraid to enter or not strong enough, don’t come.”
Dela flew into the lava zone, and the others exchanged glances. Some people lacked the strength to enter the lava zone, but most elite apprentices knew some form of levitation or flight spells. Even if they didn’t know magic, they had access to some form of transportation.
The original team of a hundred had been reduced by more than half; eventually, only forty or fifty people entered the lava zone.
Everyone followed Dela deeper into the lava zone. As more than half of the people were eliminated, the remaining felt more confident in their decision. Although no one said it out loud, they all had a similar thought:
—Only elite individuals like us have the strength to enter the lava zone. Ordinary apprentices should stay outside and fend for themselves, becoming offerings for the blood sacrifice.
At this time, the white sand rhino was also flying in mid-air. Its back, which originally had only Loki, now had a chubby little chef as well.
The chubby chef, Alan, held a bamboo skewer with a flying fish that the white sand rhino had just killed. Flames burned from his hand, and the fish was roasted, turning a distinct golden brown.
Then, an unusual mysterious power attached itself to the fish, and a burst of mouthwatering aroma exploded.
“Wow, it smells so good! I can’t help it! Alan, give it to me quickly.” Loki’s hand was already open, his face full of anticipation.
“Wait a moment, Alan’s exclusive grilled fish is almost ready!” The chubby chef, Alan, said with a smile.
The tempting fragrance was irresistible, and even Hermes couldn’t help but take a sniff: “It smells so good, this scent is quite extraordinary.”
“Alan’s grilling skills have been praised by even Mentor, and even at the Butterfly Bar, his grilled meat was listed as one of the menu items.” Tana proudly told Hermes.
The aroma of the grilled fish caught the attention of most of the people, many of whom had not eaten for a day. Now that they smelled the grilled fish, especially one prepared by a culinary apprentice, everyone couldn’t help but swallow. Even Dela, who was flying at the front, secretly glanced back at the chubby chef before lowering his head, seemingly deep in thought.
“He just looked at you.” While eating, Loki pointed at Dela and said to Alan: “Does Brother Dela want to eat too?”
“You call everyone brother, you’re not even embarrassed.” Hermes mocked from the side.
However, Tana suggested to her junior apprentice brother Alan: “Why not grill a fish for Dela as well? After all, he did save Loki just now.”
Alan nodded: “I can do that, but… why doesn’t he ever speak?”
Tana hesitated for a moment: “Maybe he’s aloof?”
In the end, Dela did not accept Alan’s grilled fish but left a profound glance. He continued to lead the way without saying a word.
It was at this point that everyone slowly realized something was off, just as the culinary apprentice had mentioned—Dela hadn’t spoken a single word from beginning to end. Moreover, was Dela really taking them to an “exit”?
After all, Dela hadn’t spoken, and his actions were all based on everyone’s speculation.
Could it be that they had misunderstood? Did Dela actually want to defeat them all? Were they about to face the ten core apprentices of Sky Mechanical City?
As everyone secretly speculated, they had already arrived at a vast lava lake with Dela.
What awaited them there was a colossal monster slowly emerging from the abyss, revealing half of its head… the Ink Touch King!
The sheer size of that half-head, exceeding everyone’s imagination, was even comparable to a cloud whale!
At the same time, countless red tentacles, each hundreds of meters long, also emerged from the abyss, bringing forth rolling magma and billowing white smoke.
Everyone was terrified by this horrifying monster, all of them with dumbfounded expressions.
At that moment, a voice came from afar: “The reinforcements have arrived! I didn’t lie to you, we indeed have backup! Hold on for a while, I’ll go deal with it.”
The “reinforcements” looked at each other.
“We were tricked!” someone shouted: “This Dela wants to finish us off all at once!”
At that moment, Sunisha also walked over: “Who told you that you were tricked? The exit is below this abyss, believe it or not!”
“How is that possible? This monster looks like it’s at least at the wizard level!”
“It’s not at the wizard level yet, but it’s close. And because it’s so powerful, it’s the perfect tool for killing. Think about it, who can make it here? Who can slay this beast? Who can enter that abyss?” Sunisha walked in front of everyone: “Overcoming these three obstacles eliminates almost 90% of people, that’s the true nature of the blood sacrifice!”
Everyone hesitated for a moment, and it seemed that the woman’s words made some sense.
“That’s the truth. Haven’t you seen them trying to get rid of that monster over there?” Sunisha pointed at a few people not far away, including Cherie, Freud, Isio, Daniel, and an old man with a staff. Cherie was riding a broom in the sky without moving, while Freud and the others were casting magic on the Ink Touch King.
Besides the old man with the staff, whom they didn’t know, the others were all well-known figures. Cherie, in particular, had left a deep impression on everyone when she appeared at the end of the valley event, openly provoking Jiebo, the Child of the Ocean.
Since even they were fighting against that monster, could it be that the exit was really below the abyss?
At this thought, everyone was a bit shaken.
“Shall we go and take a look?” Hermes volunteered at this time. He wasn’t sure if this was true, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.
As everyone went to study how to restrain the Ink Touch King, Carvelyn’s voice entered Sunisha’s ear: “What’s the deal with them?” Carvelyn was referring to Freud and the others. When she had left, there had only been Sunisha by the lava lake, but in no time, several more people appeared.
Sunisha communicated: “As soon as you left, these idiots showed up. They also seem to know about the Ink Touch King and firmly believe that there is a passage beneath the abyss. I casually connected with them… But that girl called Cherie is a bit strange. She seems to have no interest in the abyss and has been hovering in mid-air, using her black cat to look for someone…”
“Looking for someone? Who?”
“I don’t know. She never spoke, and anyone who approached her was met with a murderous expression. I can’t beat her, so I had to let her be.”
Chapter 484 Hourglass Timer <TOC> Chapter 486 The Outside World in Chaos