Chapter 2215: Echoes of the Ocean Legend (part 10): Clues |
...
*Ding*
System: A new Quest has been accepted!
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[Quest Name]: Echoes of Ocean Legends
[Quest Type]: Hidden Investigative Quest, Chain Quest
[Quest Difficulty]: Chaos (Empire Quest)
[Quest Background]:
-The annals of history had already witnessed and recorded multiple wars.
There was a war born from the lingering resentments of the fallen divines, creating evil and its spawns.
There was a war that came from instincts; instincts to devour others, instincts to destroy everything, and instincts to reign supreme over the others.
There was a war induced by the temptation of darkness, triggering a series of betrayals between allies. A war arose from envy and jealousy, creating unfillable rifts among allies, families, and friends.
There was a war awakened by suppression by the power. The weak had been enlightened and led their people to struggle against the divines and to seize the thrones for themselves.
There was a war caused by the rifts between races, a conflict between the new and the old.
And there was a war because of the invasion of the returning evil, wanting to claim what they had failed to do before.
Many might have forgotten about most of them, but the Annals of History would never forget them.
But where were the records of history? Had these legends truly been forgotten by generations? Or was there a great scholar who witnessed everything?
Would there be more wars in the future? Would there be new reasons for the new struggle against the wave of destiny? Would this be the fate of everything?
[Quest Conditions]:
-Follow the clues of the world and seek the truth of history.
[Quest Progress]:
-Followed Clues (8/9)
-Final Clue: Use the key given by the King of Sirens to open the portal leading to an unknown place.
[Quest Rewards]:
+10 Levels
+50 Skill Points
+25 Legacy Points
-Massive Increase in Reputation Points
-Clues leading to the Atlantis Kingdom, the home of all Sea Creatures and Ocean Races
-Atlantis Entry Pass.
-???
[Quest Penalty]:
-Losing the clues about the Book of ’???’
-???
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Shin was surprised to find this quest, especially after learning about its historical background. He immediately recognized that it was an extremely important quest, leading to multiple secrets of the world, specifically about all the wars that had broken out throughout the history of the game.
He could already see quite a few obvious clues about them, more specifically, the Repelling Era, the Warring Era, the Era of Mortals against Divines, and the Era of Gods and Immortals.
These were the eras that he was aware of due to the multiple pieces of information that he had already come in contact with when doing his and the others’ quests.
As for the other wars, he had somewhat gotten the gist of them, especially when he had already encountered quite a few bits of clues related to them.
"So, they have been doing this quest for quite a long time already," he mumbled after seeing the quest progress. "And they are only lacking the final piece."
He felt quite impressed by those two clearing the rest of the quest conditions by themselves. He was very clear about the difficulty of clearing an Empire Quest. After he and the rest of the Empyrean Talons had joined forces with other teams just to clear one.
Even though multiple enemies kept on interfering with them during that time, the rest of the quest was still hard to deal with.
The fact that these two had cleared the rest of the conditions by themselves was already impressive.
Even if they relied on some help from other people, the experts around this place were still quite lackluster, so they should not be that strong.
The main combatants of this Empire Quest were still most likely Felix and Felica, who proved their strength and abilities.
...
Immediately after, he swiftly turned to the sub-quest that had been generated due to the current situation.
*Ding*
System: A Sub-Quest has been generated due to the current situation.
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[Quest Details]:
-A Spawn of Evil is forcefully contaminating the surrounding environment, causing the nature of the Mana that has been accumulated for centuries.
-Once successful, opening the dimensional portal will become impossible.
[Quest Condition]:
-Destroy the Grand Demonic Formation and stop the Demonification of the surrounding region.
[Quest Rewards]:
-???
[Quest Penalty]:
-Demonification of the Glacial Cave Map
-Demonification of the Dimensional Portal
-Total failure of the Empire Quest: Echoes of Ocean Legend’
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"Tsk! Tsk! There are no clear rewards? This feels a bit lackluster, compared to the harsh penalty that comes for failing the sub-quest," he mumbled after skimming through it.
"Let’s just hope that the rewards will not disappoint us later," he added before turning at the location where Felicia was supposed to be observing everything. "She has shared the quest with me so that I will be aware of the consequences of failing to stop this guy."
"It feels like I’m being used as a barrowed knife and being taken advantage of," he scratched the bottom of his chin while looking at Leviathan, who was still channeling a massive amount of demonic powers into the demonic formation along with his three ice clones.
He squinted his eyes and used his True Sight Ocular Skill to focus on the black orb between Leviathan’s palms, which was also constantly emitting a terrifying and sinister aura.
"I guess that is the thing that I have to destroy to stop all this," he was able to immediately realize what needed to be done right after seeing the demonic orb.
Swoosh!
Immediately after, he flapped his wings strongly, propelling himself straight to Leviathan. He was planning to test the waters first before making a clear move.
BOOM!
Just like he had expected, something came to block his path right after he had attempted to charge at Leviathan, who was now one of the cores of the formation.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
A massive swarm of ice serpents suddenly emerged from the ground and surrounded Shin while he was attempting to get close to Leviathan.
"No, it is not a swarm, but a monster with multiple serpent heads," he commented after seeing the ice serpents and following their body to look at their source.
Their bodies were sprouting out of the ground, seemingly coming from and connected to another dimension.
If not for Hanzo informing him about it, he would also think that these ice serpents were a swarm instead.
Swoosh!
Swinging the legendary sword [Durendal] in his left hand, Shin sent a huge blazing arc that swept through the ice serpents, turning them into hot steam and cold mist.
However, they immediately regrow themselves within only a couple of seconds before swarming at Shin once again.
’Four Symbol Scripture: Celestial Vermilion Bird Phoenix Dance’
’Jade Kirin Scripture: Sixth Movement (Variant) Lightning Gale’
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Along with the multiple slashes of his swords, Shin sent out a barrage of blazing crescents and lightning arcs in all directions, annihilating everything in their battle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of explosions also followed, veiling the surroundings with thick clouds.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
However, despite the one-sided slaughter, the swarm of ice serpents continued to charge at Shin. They surrounded him from all directions while swarming at him without any regard for their lives.
Due to their seemingly unstoppable regeneration, they seemed to be an endless swarm of serpents that were relentlessly charging at their target without stopping until the latter had already turned into nothing.
The swarm was also getting more aggressive the more time passed, further putting more pressure on Shin.
Whenever he destroyed a few of them, dozens would suddenly come swarming in, taking over their place while continuing to charge at him.
Fortunately, all of his cards were helping him to keep track of his surroundings at all times, giving him enough time to react. He would either destroy more of them or dodge those that managed to slip through his attacks.
Shin’s innate trait within the game had already evolved into Ultra Instincts, further heightening his reaction speed.
Adding the newly learned technique that he just mastered, the Heart Realm Technique, dealing with such troublesome occasions, where he had to deal with a large number of enemies all at once, had become incredibly easier.
One was meant for his reflexes, while the other was responsible for his other senses such a combination seemed to be a match made in heaven.
Given that he had just mastered the Heart Realm Technique, there were still a few flaws present in it, especially when he was only able to bring it into the game.
The pressure that he was getting from the endless swarm of ice serpents had become the perfect whetstone to polish this somewhat crude and imperfect version of Heart Realm Technique that he had recreated within the game.
Once again, Leviathan had indirectly helped Shin in perfecting his techniques.
However, Shin had also not forgotten the main issue and his main goal in the current situation. He was keeping an eye on everything while also finding a way to deal with the ice serpents once and for all.
"It seems like I will not be able to shake off these annoying snakes unless I deal with the main source."
......
