Chapter 638: Entering the Abyssal River and the Eighteen-Level Dungeon |
Witch Shirley let out a cold snort and furrowed her brow. The Jade Splendor Enclave's reputation for a complete absence of moral principle was on par with that of the Spiral Basin in the Eastern Border Region.
The black wizards and white wizards of both these wizard lands were always mixed together indistinguishably.
Of course, there were subtle differences between the two.
The Spiral Basin primarily operated on the principle of employing talent without distinction, absorbing skilled black wizards into its fold, and the Land of the Six Towers nearby drew a large number of gifted wizards as well.
The Black Wizard Alliance in the Jade Splendor Enclave, on the other hand, used money to purchase large amounts of property and official status here, disguising themselves as members of the sky-dwelling class.
At least at the level of law and regulation, nothing could be found fault with.
And as an outside Divine Master, Witch Shirley naturally had no interest in meddling in any of this.
At the gates of the Cinder Esoteric Order Academy castle, Wizard Warwick said, "We should enter the Abyssal River as quickly as possible, then use dragon-seeking divination to locate the tomb of the Nameless King's wife."
"Let us go, all three of you."
Cries of anguish came from the cells.
Witch Shirley fixed Warwick and McKinley with a cold and hostile stare.
She said quietly to Locke, "Junior brother, be careful. This is their black wizard territory, after all."
"If anything feels wrong, use the spell model Summon the Styx Ferryman to leave immediately."
Wizard Warwick looked at Locke and Witch Shirley and explained, "This is the materials storage of our Cinder Esoteric Order Academy's laboratory. Every individual held here is a resister from various colonial worlds who opposed the spread of civilization."
"It may look somewhat frightening. But rest assured, there is nothing in this dungeon that violates the laws of our Jade Splendor Enclave's White Wizard Association. Even where things skirt close to the edge, we have paid sufficient fines."
"This is a lawful dungeon."
Locke glanced at Warwick and said, "I have no interest in that. Do not forget the purpose that brought us here."
Wizard Warwick shed several layers of magical robes. Back on his home turf, he no longer needed to spend every day in fear.
His entire body appeared as though cast from silver, like a silver werewolf. A natural magical eye appeared on his forehead, an Eye of Abyssal Wisdom that resembled a silver-cast eye.
Wizard McKinley, meanwhile, glanced at Locke, and his body also underwent a change. Both his hands transformed into the wings of nether butterflies, the butterfly wings covered in patterns of abyssal fire.
Those were the distinguishing features of the Abyssal Demon Butterfly.
Wizard McKinley said, "It has been a long time since I last saw white wizards with this kind of nerve, actually following us deep into a black wizard dungeon. Though please rest assured, we are both archaeology wizards."
"Even if you would not spare the monk, you should spare the Buddha's face."
"Archaeology wizards are rare enough in this world. Even within the Cinder Esoteric Order Academy, there are no more than a few dozen of us, operating under a system of secret transmission."
"On the surface, the Cinder Esoteric Order is not publicly known as an archaeology wizard academy."
"Therefore, there is no need to worry that we would do anything to harm you inside this dungeon. The Abyssal River's headwaters originate in the abyss and pass through an unknown number of abyssal planes along the way. Its water has long since been saturated with abyssal power. Without the resentment and death energy of these condemned prisoners to suppress that abyssal force, the living creatures on this entire vortex reef would likely be contaminated by abyssal energy, their bodies transformed into abyssal creatures and their souls corrupted by the abyss."
"At that point, our Cinder Esoteric Order would suffer devastating casualties, and the wizard organization would effectively fall apart."
"Therefore, the entrance to the Abyssal River does indeed lie at the deepest point of this dungeon."
Witch Shirley looked at the pitifully wretched humanoid creatures in the dungeon, fought down the urge to vomit, and forced herself forward.
Locke, having previously experienced the abyssal plane firsthand, had developed some tolerance for such scenes of gore.
At the same time, he recognized that both McKinley and Warwick likely had hands that were far from clean.
The orderly manner in which Warwick had conducted himself in front of Locke was simply because the two of them were on equal footing.
Some people were perfectly courteous and gentlemanly within their own social circle, but that by no means guaranteed they would remain the same gentleman when they descended to the lower rungs of society.
At times, a person's gentlemanly nature and their demonic side could coexist simultaneously.
The four of them continued downward along the steps. The stench of rot, the smell of blood, and an ever-thickening abyssal energy drifted through the air.
A skinned, abyss-corrupted Boarhead creature in the dungeon wailed out in anguish. "Please, save me."
"Please."
Before it stood a black wizard first-class wizard apprentice who was conducting some manner of cruel experiment with a skinning knife.
The black wizard, clearly a necromancer, had eyes filled with fanatical intensity. "The muscle distribution of Boarhead creatures from different subspecies really does differ. I have skinned more than five hundred Boarheads to verify this point..."
"And Boarheads that have been infected by abyssal energy and undergone abyssal corruption are different again."
Witch Shirley's eyes went cold, and with a single wave of her hand, the Boarhead creature died instantly, its suffering brought to an end.
The black wizard apprentice erupted in anger, and was just opening his mouth to curse when he looked up and saw Warwick and McKinley, along with two full wizards he did not recognize, whose magical pressure was overwhelming. He immediately dropped to his knees in terror.
"I am sorry, I am sorry," Apprentice Valentin said. "I must have done something wrong and offended an instructor."
"Please forgive me."
"My lords."
Witch Shirley swept him with a look of contempt, a flash of cold menace crossing her eyes. "Hmph. All disgusting things would be better off dead."
Apprentice Valentin was immediately shaking all over in terror.
The Cinder Esoteric Order had a strict internal hierarchy. A senior wizard killing an apprentice like him would be of no consequence whatsoever, even without any reason.
So unlike an ordinary white wizard student, Apprentice Valentin was genuinely trembling with fear, his face drained of all color.
If Witch Shirley chose to kill him right now, he would die with certainty unless a full wizard stepped in to protect him.
Wizard Warwick smoothed things over with practiced ease. "Valentin, your methods are far too brutal. Even I find it unpleasant to look at. To say nothing of Lady Witch Shirley."
"You ought to apologize to this lady. She is a distinguished figure from a top-tier wizard academy."
"Golden Crown Mountain. Do you know it?"
A flicker of puzzlement crossed Apprentice Valentin's eyes.
He knew Golden Crown Mountain. It was a wizard academy renowned even within white wizard society, the representative institution of high-efficiency agriculture.
Yet Golden Crown Mountain, as a thousand-year-old institution in white wizard society, why would it be willing to venture this deep into the Cinder Esoteric Order Academy, into its most terrible eighteen-level dungeon?
Apprentice Valentin quickly came back to his senses and prostrated himself before Witch Shirley.
Regardless of Witch Shirley's identity, she was a full wizard, an existence on an entirely different level from his.
If she wanted to kill him, she could simply do so.
The white wizard society of the Jade Splendor Enclave itself championed the survival of the strong and the elimination of the weak, and exalted in discarding weaker existences.
The black wizard society of the Jade Splendor Enclave pushed this principle to its absolute extreme.
Apprentice Valentin knocked his head repeatedly against the cold, hard granite floor.
Witch Shirley showed not the slightest acknowledgment of it, simply wearing an expression of revulsion. "You are utterly nauseating."
"Locke, junior brother, let us go."
Wizard Warwick shrugged and floated along after them. "I understand. Honestly, McKinley and I are not fond of scenes like this either. We are archaeologists, not death mages."
"We understand how you feel."
Witch Shirley looked at Wizard Warwick with confusion and said, "That black wizard apprentice just now, if he was doing evil purely out of the necessity of an experiment, that would be one thing. Reprehensible, in violation of the law, yet at least understandable."
"But part of the reason he was doing it was simply for the pleasure of tormenting that creature."
"You two are both archaeologists. You ought to retain at least some pride in that."
McKinley only smiled upon hearing her words and offered no reply.
Warwick explained, "The eighteen-level dungeon is essentially the territory of the necromancer academy. They cannot operate openly on the surface, so they have nowhere to put their frustrations."
"Though you are right. They are psychologically twisted. And I will emphasize again, every condemned prisoner within this dungeon is a creature from a colonial world that showed disrespect to wizard civilization and launched direct attacks against us."
"So there is nothing unlawful about this dungeon anywhere!"
"We have previously had a contract wizard from a law firm come to assess the situation for us, and our academy has won several tribunal cases on the matter as well."
Locke suddenly said, "That river up ahead, is that the Abyssal River? It looks like ordinary river water."
Ahead, at the deepest point of the dungeon, the terrain suddenly opened up, and at the very bottom of the dungeon there was, astonishingly, a dock.
On the magical alloy dock were several magical devices, along with some wizard apprentices and one full wizard, all attending to various tasks.
The dock stood at the edge of an extraordinarily wide river, its surface as broad as a lake, vast enough for vessels to navigate and move about with ease.
Yet the surface of the river looked perfectly ordinary.
Witch Shirley spoke up before Warwick could. "Locke, look at that dock. It is covered entirely in magic from the Abjuration School's sealing sub-discipline."
"The entire river looks ordinary, but its surface is blanketed in sealing power. That is the only reason it can appear so calm. It is not the ordinary river it appears to be to the naked eye."
Locke activated his wizard's sight, the Spiritual Vision, and immediately perceived layer upon layer of spell models on the river's surface before the dock, all working to suppress the river.
Without them, the abyssal power within the river would likely erupt in an instant, corrupting everyone nearby and killing every shred of vitality within reach.
Warwick smiled and said, "Witch Shirley is truly perceptive."
"It seems you have seen much of the world. No wonder you were willing to accompany Locke this time. Though truly, you need not be so guarded against me. Locke and I are the closest of friends."
"I am deeply grateful to Locke for preparing the Abyss Werewolf potion for me. There will be many more occasions in the future where I must rely on Locke."
Witch Shirley made no reply.
At that moment, Wizard McKinley picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it toward the river's surface beside the dock.
The pebble struck the water, and that previously tranquil, undisturbed surface instantly erupted with a violent surge of abyssal demonic energy. A number of wizard apprentices on the dock were sent staggering in every direction by the abyssal energy.
The full wizard immediately deployed their Everlasting Defensive Field to cover the dock, and fired an Abjuration School spell model, Force Seal, at the river's surface, reinforcing the seals, before finally managing to suppress the river again.
That full wizard turned and unleashed a torrent of furious cursing at McKinley. "McKinley, what the hell do you think you're doing? Are you out of your mind?"
McKinley laughed to himself, then said to Locke, "You see now. This tributary of the Abyssal River is not nearly as well-behaved as it appears on the surface."
"Just keeping it 'quiet' costs our academy enormous resources every year."
"Were it not for the resentment and death energy of the eighteen levels of condemned prisoners to counteract the overflowing abyssal energy, I fear..."
Witch Shirley let out a cold laugh.
Locke also came to the realization that the true purpose of the dungeon's death energy was likely to mask the abyssal energy, preventing the Ethics Review Committee from coming to investigate.
Whatever else one might say, having maintained such a large abyssal tributary here in the Jade Splendor Enclave would likely invite a thorough investigation from the Ethics Review Committee.
After all, the Cinder Esoteric Order was not an ordinary black wizard organization. It also held the identity of a White Wizard Association member organization.
If the White Wizard Association ever decided to come and investigate, there would be no legitimate grounds to refuse them.
Of course, that was all only in theory.
In practical terms, this academy was genuinely not under the supervision or oversight of the local White Wizard Association branch.
The four of them arrived at the dock, and after Wizard McKinley exchanged a few words with the full wizard stationed there, they were granted permission to board the Abyssal River.
Quite a few black wizard apprentices stole glances at Locke and Witch Shirley, apparently astonished that two white wizards had come to this place.
When Locke looked back at them, these black wizard apprentices either immediately lowered their heads in submission or smiled at him with fawning obsequiousness.
Warwick recited an incantation, and a Styx Ferryman's vessel materialized on the surface of the Abyssal River. "All three of you, I have already noted down the coordinates of the ruins along the Abyssal River. Let us take turns using the Summon the Styx Ferryman spell model among the four of us to reach that area."
"The journey is long, and the Abyssal River's surface environment is harsh, complex, and dangerous. So in the interest of maximum safety, I suggest we take turns casting the Summon Styx Ferryman spell."
Locke and Witch Shirley had no objections.
After each of the four handed over four netherworld gold coins, they stepped onto the vessel together. The Styx Ferryman glanced at the four of them, then raised the oar and began moving through the waters of the Abyssal River.
Warwick said, "The Abyssal River differs from an ordinary river. Ordinary rivers flow from high to low, while the Abyssal River flows from low to high."
"The Abyssal River originates in one of the lowermost planes of the endless abyss, and to this day no wizard has confirmed which abyssal layer contains the plane where its headwaters lie."
"The Abyssal River crosses many abyssal planes and intersects with numerous planes throughout the endless void, including our wizard plane."
"Therefore, some methods currently used to travel to colonial planes involve navigating the Abyssal River's waterways by void warship."
"And in the old days, the Wizard Kings of the Era of Stars, who relied heavily on abyssal power, would as repayment of their debt to the abyss place their own tombs within the abyss after death. Yet not wanting their remains to be defiled by the abyss and turned into undead abominations, many Wizard Kings chose to construct their tombs as fortresses of impenetrable magical seals and place them at some point along the Abyssal River."
Warwick said to Locke, "This was a very clever approach. Because the Abyssal River is part of the abyss itself, yet a large portion of the Abyssal River lies outside the endless abyss."
"With this method, the Wizard Kings could preserve their dignity after death."
"Safeguarding their final honor."
Wizard McKinley could not help but laugh. "Tombs like that would have concentrated enormous magical power, and would contain many treasures as well."
"If one were to successfully excavate an abyssal ruin, a single academy could live comfortably off it for a very, very long time."
By now they had already pulled away from the dock, which had shrunk to nothing and disappeared from sight. The tributary of the Abyssal River carried them off to somewhere unknown.
The sealing energy on the river's surface had also gradually weakened.
And wave after wave of abyssal energy was now being released toward the four on the vessel.
The river's surface that the ferry passed over was a deep and lightless black, with no visible bottom, and it was far from lifeless.
On the contrary, it teemed with diverse creatures in staggering numbers.
Those were demon fish.
Demon fish after demon fish thrashed excitedly in the water, their bodies repeatedly slamming against the underside of the ferry.
Locke looked beneath the surface of the Abyssal River and saw not only various demon fish with red eyes and razor-sharp beaks, but also numerous primordial demon worms. These worms writhed through the water like aquatic insect larvae, gazing greedily upward at the four wizards on the surface.
Warwick let out a cold laugh, and the aura of an abyss werewolf radiated from his body.
Instantly, the demon fish and primordial demon worms, sensing the presence of a high-ranking demonic creature, scattered in every direction at breakneck speed.
The lower-rank demonic creatures that had been battering the ferry vanished in the blink of an eye.
Yet the river's surface was no longer calm.
Demon fish were fleeing in every direction, the water splashing wildly, and the undulating shadows of primordial demon worms surged everywhere.
At that moment, Witch Shirley reached into her star ring and produced a peculiar piece of witch porcelain.
The witch porcelain was an exact replica of her own likeness.
All the abyssal energy converged and poured into this porcelain figurine, leaving her unaffected.
Furthermore, Witch Shirley activated her bloodline, and deep-sea octopus characteristics appeared upon her body. Her hands remained unchanged, but from her back grew six enormous sea-monster octopus tentacles.
Locke recognized that this appeared to be the ancient creature of the deep, the Kraken, a Second Circle ancient creature that was said in ancient times to have possessed the power to destroy countless islands and unleash tsunamis.
With the physical enhancements of the Kraken bloodline, combined with the substitute witch porcelain bearing the abyssal energy in her stead, Witch Shirley was effectively immune to the abyssal energy.
Warwick's eyes brightened slightly. "Now that is a fine technique. That would be witch porcelain, would it not? I had not expected Cloud Marsh Wetland's witch porcelain technology to have advanced so quickly. To think it can now bear abyssal energy on behalf of its owner."
"That I did not anticipate."
"Though the deeper we go, the more concentrated the abyssal energy will become. A trick like that will not be able to hold up all the way to the abyssal ruins. This time we are going deep into the Abyssal River."
"After all, the abyssal ruins of the Nameless King's wife have drifted for a long time along the Abyssal River's surface before coming to rest where they are now, stopped there for the time being."
"If not for that, my luck would not have been good enough to discover that ruin in the portion of the Abyssal River that lies close to the wizard world."
Witch Shirley said, "There is no need for your concern. I know what I am doing."
