Chapter 971 Farewell <TOC> Chapter 973 Cold Ancient Ruins
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon parting from the parched and skeletal Crag Forest, the advancement speed of the supply group began to slow drastically.
Within the expanse of the Crag Forest, patrols from the guard squad had previously swept for threats, reducing immediate dangers to a minimum. However, once they ventured beyond the forest’s protective barrier, potential perils might lurk in every nook and cranny.
As they left the Crag Forest, they encountered a borderland swarming with chaotic spatial energy. Treading lightly and cautiously across this region, they arrived at Sacrificial Ridge.
A cursory glance at Sacrificial Ridge revealed nothing more than barren and undulating hills. Yet these desolate mounds teemed with an eerie, deathly energy.
While Angel was still puzzling over this strange sight, as they pressed forward, countless altars began to emerge amidst the barren hills. The altars were all decked with heaps of white bones, from which the palpable aura of desolation originated and diffused.
As they passed over these altars, the bones of the sacrificers, long turned skeletal, began to stir. They began to lift their skulls, their empty eye sockets flashing with ghostly fire.
It seemed as if the breath of the living had disturbed the repose of these skeletal remains.
These bones, each armed with a weapon, made a futile attempt to attack the living in the sky. But distance was their enemy; only the skeletal archers posed a slight threat, their launched arrows, however, fell long before reaching the supply group.
“These altars were built by the original inhabitants of the Abyss. Certain tribes worship demons, offering their tribespeople as sacrifices,” Madeline elucidated. “These bones are just a part of it; more lie buried deep within.”
Madeline’s words were soon validated.
As they delved deeper into Sacrificial Ridge, bones were no longer confined to the altars, but were littered all around.
The atmosphere brimmed with a deathly stillness, a sinister energy permeating every corner. As the supply group passed, armies of bones began to resurrect, their undead reanimation invoking an endless sense of oppression.
After nearly two hours, they finally managed to traverse through the Sacrificial Ridge Range. Yet, even after leaving the oppressive confines of these peaks, the pervasive sense of heaviness remained. Instead, it weighed on them more severely, spurred on by the anxiety of venturing into the unknown.
Seven hours post their departure from the Emberstone Titan, they encountered an attack from a flock of Harbingers of Death Birds.
An inexhaustible swarm of these foreboding creatures, a dark and pressing mass, blotted out the already dismal sky. Wild, fearless and relentlessly aggressive, their speed far surpassed their flying vehicles, making evasion impossible, forcing a head-on confrontation.
Under the widespread bombardment of spells, droves of the Harbingers of Death plummeted from the sky.
Yet, the sight of their fallen comrades did nothing to instill fear in them; instead, they fought with even more fervor, and more of their kin attacked from all directions. The ceaseless combat caused a gradual depletion of energy among most of the apprentices, triggering a slow unraveling of their morale.
The battle lasted an hour.
Three apprentices fell, while the death toll of Harbingers of Death exceeded one hundred thousand.
Even after the battle concluded, Angel felt the echoes of the conflict reverberating before his eyes. The valiant deaths of the Harbingers of Death, falling one after another, only to be replaced by yet another, transformed their sight into what resembled a “Bone Rain”.
This macabre rain, although it only lasted for an hour in reality, had seemingly transformed into a perpetual nightmare, forever etched into their memory.
Seeing the lingering apprehension on Angel’s face, Madeline said, “If it can be solved, it’s not much of a problem. But, the Abyss harbors much that we can’t solve.”
“Like what?” Angel asked out of curiosity.
“Like…” Madeline was about to answer when the voice of Sineva suddenly echoed in everyone’s ears.
—”Everyone, halt.”
Sineva’s tone was urgent, which took everyone aback, and they promptly began to decipher the meaning behind her abrupt command. Madeline cast a puzzled look in the same direction, eager to understand what had transpired.
Abruptly, the pupils of Madeline constricted. After a pause, she murmured, “What is beyond resolution, you ask? The scene before us, for instance.”
Before Sineva, structures sprawled from the mountainside to the peak. Each building was grandiose and vast, akin to an ancient temple that has weathered countless epochs.
“This is a branch of the Demon Monastery,” Madeline softly informed.
The Demon Monastery’s headquarters resided in the third layer of the Abyss, but its branches pervaded the surface of the Abyss. This so-called monastery was merely a place where indigenous beings or half-demons paid homage to demons. Typically, no demons were present.
The Frost Moon guards chose this path because it was safer and more direct compared to others, even though the monastery usually had no demons.
However, to their surprise, a demonic aura was emanating from the monastery, usually devoid of demons. Moreover, this aura was sky-high, far from any ordinary demon!
As Madeline’s words faded, a towering demon emerged from the monastery. The demon was as slender as a bamboo stick, adorned with black bone wings, horns on its head, and a curled tail.
“This is… the Goat Demon,” Madeline stated solemnly.
“The Goat Demon is a mid-level demon, its strength comparable to a true knowledge wizard. Lady Sineva should be able to cope with its strength. However, Goat Demons are notorious for their cunning and deceit. They are the preferred subordinates of the higher demons. If a higher demon is behind this Goat Demon and decides to step in, our only fate is death.”
Sineva’s urgent voice resounded in everyone’s ears once again, “I will distract the Goat Demon. In the meantime, all of you must seize the opportunity to break through the Demon Monastery and rendezvous at the Cold Ancient Ruins!”
No sooner had Sineva’s words fallen than the jeering laughter of the Goat Demon echoed across the monastery. As it lunged towards them, it hummed in the demonic tongue.
The demonic language triggered a strange chain reaction. Invisible ripples infused with potent dark energy began to corrode everyone. Once corroded, there was no means of salvation.
In that moment, Sineva dismissively waved her hand, an enormous force of icy flame accompanying her mighty punch, it seemed as though she tore through the constraints of time and space, blocking the encroaching darkness from out of nowhere. This allowed everyone behind Sineva to exhale a sigh of relief.
The Goat Demon finally turned its attention to Sineva at this juncture, putting away its mischievous smirk and gazing at her with a serious expression. Sineva, however, didn’t give it the opportunity to observe. With a cold snort, she encapsulated herself in an intense surge of energy and charged straight at the Goat Demon, commencing a melee.
Simultaneously, the goat demon’s intimidating aura was disrupted. All those who were trembling under its pressurizing aura started to regain a bit of their senses.
“This is the moment, run!” Maher was the one who spoke, taking the initiative to dash forward. The others snapped back to reality, following suit.
The Goat Demon noticed the others’ intent to break through the encirclement. It attempted to stop them, but due to Sineva’s frenzied assault, it struggled to split its attention.
Angel then pushed the Gondola’s speed to its limit while signalling Toby to be on alert. If anything went wrong, he should immediately transform into his griffon form, triggering the Gravity Lines for a swift escape.
As they bypassed the Goat Demon, even at a distance of several miles, the palpable intensity of the melee combat sent shivers down Angel’s spine. The mere fact that the Goat Demon was barely able to deflect Sineva’s formidable attack showed how dire their situation could have been. If Sineva hadn’t been with this resupply team, they may well have already met their end.
Having circumvented the Goat Demon, they began their breakout from the Demon Monastery.
Within the Demon Monastery were magic wielders and two half-demons. Their power was formidable, roughly equivalent to a wizard, but there were over twenty wizards present. Unleashing their full firepower, they overwhelmingly crushed the opposition.
Half an hour later, they finally breached the Demon Monastery, arriving at the next region—The Cold Ancient Ruins.
The Cold Ancient Ruins housed a relatively safe subterranean grotto. Initially, they hadn’t planned to rest here, but with Sineva’s absence, they had no choice but to temporarily halt their journey.
“Usually, there are no demonic creatures in the Cold Ancient Ruins. We initially believed it to be a safe haven and planned to establish a stronghold there. However, we soon discovered that this place was not without its own dangers — threats that were far more insidious and horrifying than we could have ever anticipated. To this day, we have not fully unraveled its mysteries,” Maher explained to the group. He didn’t specify the “horrors” of the Cold Ancient, but the trepidation in his eyes was evident.
Just as Maher had indicated, they flew over the Cold Ancient Ruins for a considerable part of the day without encountering any magical beasts.
Furthermore, as they progressed, signs of plant life even began to appear on the ground. The trees were sparse, but there was at least a hint of greenery.
Soon, they halted before an extraordinarily concealed cave.
“The relatively safe area lies within. Everyone, stay close,” Maher, as always, led the way.
The path within the cave descended, seemingly leading deep into the heart of the earth. After approximately five minutes of traversal, they arrived at a somewhat large underground cavern.
The cavern appeared flat and spacious. There were a few extinguished fire pits, indicating that it had once been inhabited.
“We’ll hold up here temporarily, awaiting Lady Sineva’s return,” Maher paused before adding, “Remember, try to avoid wandering off alone while we are here.”
Having said that, Maher kindled a fire pit, and along with the rest of the Frost Moon’s guards, he started discussing their plans with grave expressions.
Angel and Madeline lit a fire nearby and sat cross-legged in its warm glow.
“Goat Demons emerging in the first layer of the Abyss, that’s not a promising omen,” Madeline muttered under her breath, her brow creasing in concern, “In the past, Goat Demons always lurked in the third layer, the first layer was only frequented by minor demons. Could something have transpired in the third layer?”
At this moment, Angel’s heart was still pounding, this journey was proving to be even more terrifying than his prior venture into the demon’s Sea.
More importantly, the sense of oppression in the Abyss was almost unbearable.
Once this oppressive feeling builds up to a certain level, it morphs into despair. As Angel glanced back at the other apprentices trailing in the distance, he could already see a few showing signs of hysteria…
Angel’s first impression of the Abyss was: there’s no hope.
Now, the second impression that Angel has etched in his mind about the Abyss is: ceaseless suppression.