Chapter 292: The Gem of Curse
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Li’s face paled as the Rage of the Natural Disaster started…
That was right, while he was aware that this was a trap, he never would have thought that it would be so powerful. Hell, so what if he once stayed a week at the Shadowglen, so what if he knew the unmatched Necromancer Sendros, and so what if he was once mistaken for some Immortal King? This Rage of the Natural Disaster was level-18. Not even in his wildest imagination did he think he would one day be faced with such terrifying Necromagic.
The effect of the magic suppression only lasted a second before it was engulfed by the wild spread of darkness.
However, this second was incomparably precious to Lin Li.
A single second was neither long nor short, yet it was sufficient for Lin Li to release a sliver of mana and activate the Brand Of Dusk on his finger.
An elemental channel materialized in the dark void of the sky; in an instant, the world fell into silence even though it was restless with the death aura just a moment ago. It was like a rock sinking into the ocean, but the ripples disappeared without a trace before they had the chance to form.
Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react.
It felt like a dream for Gerian and Ysera—everything ended in a flash before it even had the chance to start before they saw the black rays of the Rage of the Natural Disaster explode violently and disappear. The event’s speed made it all too surreal.
“It… It’s gone?” Gerian stared open-mouthed at the stone door, his chubby face full of disbelief.
“It’s gone… ”
“Just like that? ”
“…” Lin Li almost sat on the ground. Just like that? he thought. Sh*t, if I didn’t use the Magic Suppression spell earlier on, this mineshaft might have collapsed thanks to the Rage of the Natural Disaster. “Just like that”? Only that damned fatty could say that…
Between the back and forths of the two, a faint noise came from the tightly shut cave door.
“Swish, swish…” As the faint noise echoed in their ears, the cave door had already started to tremble lightly. Sand and dirt trickled down from the freshly dug tunnel’s ceiling; then, to the trio’s pleasant surprise, the tightly shut cave door began to slowly open…
An endless gloom lay on the other side of the cave door. Standing in the dim light, Lin Li furiously rubbed his eyes, but he could still only barely make out the outline of what lay ahead. There seemed to be a long and narrow tunnel, stretching beyond what they could see. As Lin Li stood outside the cave door, he could not help but imagine a bloodthirsty beast in front of him. Perhaps due to the old age, layers of algae grew on the thick slabs of stones that made up the floor, thus giving them the cold and slimy feel of a python’s scales.
The moment the cave door opened, they caught a whiff of rancid smell of decay coming from the tunnel. The rancid smell was comparable to that of the skeletons in the Shadowglen: thick and dense, as though the smell had somehow solidified into something. Maybe it was due to the opened cave door, but the chilling wind sweeping past their ears only added on to their terror in this tenebrous setting.
“Shall we go in and take a look?” Ysera whispered after swallowing his saliva with difficulty.
“Nonsense, the door is already open—don’t tell me we’re going back? Say, Ysera, when did you become such a coward?” Lin Li barely opened his mouth when Gerian cut in. His chubby face was filled with such excitement that one would think there was an unclothed beauty standing before them instead of a gloomy cave.
“Be careful.” Lin Li could not help feeling perplexed upon seeing the eager Gerian. This rascal really doesn’t know what’s good for him; his mana has already been shattered, yet he is still the first to dive into everything. God, how can he be so reckless in such a place? All you need is a couple of traps for this fatso to fall into…
“Don’t worry…” Gerian was hardly aware of the danger. With a wave of his hand, the middle-aged fatty sauntered off into the tunnel. However, as soon as he stepped foot into it, the smile on his face stiffened.
“Crunch… ”
A very normal sound rang out, yet in this gloomy setting, it set off everyone’s nerves.
“What happened?” Lin Li chased anxiously while grasping the Aether Staff tightly, ready to save Gerian with his magic the moment something was off.
“I’m… I’m fine. ” Gerian barely managed a smile that seemed worse than a grimace even in this dim light. “It’s just… I… for God’s sake, I might have stepped on something… ”
“What?”
Lin Li hurriedly uttered two lines, and released the Illuminating Spell.
Thanks to the blinding lights, Lin Li finally saw everything clearly. He did not know whether to laugh or cry in that instant. Maybe it was because of Gerian’s awful luck, but he had stepped on a skeleton. Then again, in this tenebrous setting, coupled with the periodic gusts of chilling wind, it made sense that even the bravest man would be in shock having stepped on a skeleton.
“This…” Lin Li brushed his nose, and sheepishly explained, “I forgot to mention earlier, but the Song of Death mageweath relies on the power of death to work. So, I guess what you are stepping on is the source of the Song of Death mageweath… ”
“Sh*t, it almost scared the living lights out of me… ”
“Why don’t I lead the way instead…” Lin Li held the Illuminating Spell while leading the two into the tunnel.
This was one scary looking tunnel…
The trio carefully proceeded, yet despite walking for around 10 minutes, they still could not see the end.
Only when Lin Li started yawning did the three of them finally see a greenish light coming from the distance. From where they were, the speck of light reminded them of a vigil light as it flickered in the air, sending a chill running down their spines…
Only, the three could not find it in themselves to care at this point anymore—they would go ahead even if there was a whole graveyard lying in front of them, much less a vigil light.
As the three of them went nearer, the speck of light grew brighter as well.
When Lin Li could finally see the speck of light clearly, he could not help but to draw a mouthful of cold air at the sight…
“F*ck…” It was a Gem of Curse.
Legend had it that the Gem of Curse only existed within the rare Heavenly Mithril, and even then they were few in numbers. One the size of a fingertip was enough for a Necromancer to summon tens and thousands of the Undead. Even in the Endless World, Lin Li had only read of it in various books, and the gem usually appeared along a scary tale even in those circumstances. Maybe some Necromancer used a Gem of Curse to summon thousands of the Undead and murdered a few tribes, or an ambitious Lich embedded one of these gems in his life case in order to become immensely powerful, and should the brave fail to stop him in time, he would use this power to destroy the universe, etc., etc…
There were numerous tales surrounding the Gems of Curse, but their only similarity was that their powers were terrifying…
That was right, the power of the Gems of Curse could only be described as “terrifying”.
“Well, looks like this joke got out of hand… ” Lin Li swallowed his saliva with difficulty; even just staring at the Gem of Curse made his breathing speed up.
That couldn’t be helped—this Gem of Curse was too big, so big it was unbelievable.
If the Dragon’s Eye on the Aether Staff was a lucky find, then this Gem of Curse could only be a miracle…
The Gem of Curse was the size of a fist. It floated quietly, radiating green light. The surging Death Energy was much stronger than the one at the Shadowglen, in the war of thousands of the Undead. As Lin Li stood there, he began to unconsciously reach for the Gem of Curse. It was truly a priceless treasure, and at the hands of a Master of the Five Arts, it could even be turned into a god-tier magical equipment.
However, just as he reached out halfway, Lin Li gritted his teeth, and hurriedly withdrew his hand.
“No!” Just before he got hold of the Gem of Curse, Lin Li suddenly realized that something was amiss. It made no sense for this Gem of Curse to be here, silently floating in the air just as though it had appeared out of nowhere, without any force to protect it.
In normal circumstances, abnormal meant something was wrong.
“What is it?” As Gerian witnessed everything, he could not help feeling confused for a second. He was not aware of how precious the Gem of Curse was, but he knew that the young man before him was not just any other man—if something could entice him so strongly, it had to be a treasure of immeasurable value.
Hence, Gerian was immensely curious as to why this young man gave up on the treasure lying right in front of him
“Nothing… ” With that said, Lin Li had no mind to explain this right now, and merely shook his head. Setting his sight somewhere else, he said, “Let’s take a look first.”
Only at this point did Lin Li realize that this was an empty stone room with two exits. One was the long and narrow tunnel, and the other was opposite the tunnel. From a distance, it looked like a stone door left ajar, but from the center of the stone room, it looked like there was a speck of green light hovering around…
“My God, so that’s what it is… ” When Lin Li saw the speck of green light, he had a eureka moment. No wonder he found the Gem of Curse strange—he had thought that the green light came from the Gem of Curse at first, but never expected that this was actually a mageweath.