Chapter 642: Orderly Maze
However, Cheyenne did not come here aiming for the control center. He simply felt that there could be the Immortal King’s treasure or the relics of the High Elves in the tower that was in the middle of the city. Although the tower was not the only one in the Sky Castle, anyone with brains would think that being the one in the middle often meant that it was the most important.
After hearing Cheyenne’s encounter, Lin Li began to keep his guard up against the Sky Castle. Hence, he did not hide anything regarding the tower being the control center of the Sky Castle.
Although Lin Li now had by his side the Vampire Norfeller, who had just reached Level-21, Lich Ujfalusi who was at the peak of level-22, and two Legendary Humerus Wyrms, Lin Li still had no confidence in his power, and was not certain that he could cope with what he might encounter next.
Especially after meeting Cheyenne again and realizing that it was likely that the psychotic High Elves had all studied Necromagic and even applied it on the Sky Castle, Lin Li felt the need to have more competent assistants. Although Cheyenne got harmed by the Legendary Vengeful Spirits, that did not mean that he was particularly weak. If Lin Li had been in his place instead, he would probably have been unable to withstand the attacks of the Vengeful Spirits more easily than Cheyenne.
However, Lin Li merely talked about the central tower, but did not give any explanation about the labyrinth-like streets Cheyenne had mentioned subtly. The Conquering Mageweath was considered one of the top-level mageweaths even amongst Guru-level mageweaths. Perhaps only a few High Elves knew about it. Although Cheyenne was the closest to Lin Li in this cooperation, their bond wasn’t strong enough for him to really come clean about everything.
Although Cheyenne found the maze to be very strange, he did not continue probing when he noticed that Lin Li didn’t seem too keen about talking about it. In his opinion, it was probably just some magic gears or booby traps. Since he had already barged in, there was no need to look further into it.
In fact, Cheyenne was now the weakest amongst the several forces, and the only trusted ally of his was Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk. On the surface, he seemed to have accepted Lin Li’s invitation calmly, but he was in fact more than happy. Hence, despite knowing that Lin Li was hiding something, he decided not to probe any further for fear that he would lose his ally.
The group arrived in front of the central tower, and Lin Li stopped in his tracks all of a sudden. Staring at the seemingly ordinary door, his forehead gradually creased into a frown.
“Mage Felic, is there some sort of mageweath on this door?” Cheyenne looked at the tightly shut doors and the two complicated mageweaths that made him feel a little dizzy. Although he could guess that this might be the magic lock of the tower, he did not study mageweaths in detail, and couldn’t see what it was.
Lin Li hesitated for a moment before wryly saying, “If I’m not wrong, it should be the legendary Magical Thousand-contraption Lock.”
“The Magical Thousand-contraption Lock!” Cheyenne’s face grew sullen immediately. The legendary Magical Thousand-contraption Lock could not be deciphered even by the gods. Perhaps the legends might be exaggerated, but he no longer had the elite Bandits along with him to open the lock. Perhaps the Legendary-realm Bandit Lansdale from the Dark Blade would have the means to do so, though.
If Lin Li knew what Cheyenne was thinking, he would definitely tell him that even the ancestor of Lansdale would never be able to unlock the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock unless he had the real key, let alone Lansdale. That was how precise it was. Even the person who had set up the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock would not be able to open it without the key.
After Lin Li arrived in Anril, he had seen the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock several times before, including one time in the underground vault of Time Consignment Store. However, even though the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock in the Time Consignment Store was clearly inferior, it still required more than 100 keys and a special maneuvering technique to be unlocked.
Based on Lin Li’s experience, he deduced that the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock in the door might really require at least 1000 keys and countless methods for it to be unlocked safely. It was not an exaggeration at all. Those who didn’t know the right maneuvering techniques would never be able to unlock it.
Everyone knew that there were rules to follow, be it with an ordinary lock or a magic lock. In order to unlock a lock, finding the rules would be akin to finding the key, for the next step would be to find a replacement for the key. However, there were countless permutations within the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, and even the gods couldn’t calculate them all.
“Mage Felic, is there really no solution?” Cheyenne asked, refusing to submit to fate.
Lin Li smiled bitterly, and said, “If it was another Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, I could try unlocking it, but there’s no need to try with this one.” Not only was there no solution, Lin Li wouldn’t dare to try it even if he had one. They were not in the underground vault of the Time Consignment Store, but in the Sky Castle of the High Elves. The attack of the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock triggered by an attempt would definitely be massive. If he were to try it recklessly, it would be akin to suicide.
Although the way to the central tower was blocked by the unbreakable Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, Lin Li and Cheyenne both refused to resign to fate. Lin Li slowly walked along the bottom of the tower while scrutinizing it in hopes of finding a breakthrough.
When they got all the way to the back of the tower, Lin Li raised his head and looked up, only to see an open terrace on the second floor of the tower.
“Is there access to the interior of the tower?” Seeing that Lin stood still, Cheyenne looked up. He couldn’t believe his eyes at all. Could this be possible? There was an unbreakable Magical Thousand-contraption Lock in front and a huge hole at the back.
Lin Li didn’t believe that there would be such a good thing. The High Elves were not idiots. Since the front door was deadlocked, how could entry be granted at the backdoor? Needless to say, the terrace was definitely no less dangerous than the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock in the front. At least the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock wouldn’t be dangerous as long as it wasn’t touched. However, the terrace was more like a bait that was waiting for the invaders to take it.
Actually, the significance of such a trap was very clear and blunt, yet people often found it impossible to turn down. Perhaps not everyone knew that the tower was the control center of the city of the sky, but everyone knew that it was in the central position and offered plenty of potential benefits. In the face of such a huge temptation, no one would give up even if there was deadly danger on the terrace. After all, humans would die for money.
It was predictable that the elves would definitely not give up, just like Dark Blade. Hence, there was no reason for Cheyenne to give up too.
Lin Li wanted something different from them. He could ignore the Immortal King’s treasure, but not the great Sky Castle. Lin Li still had the key to the Sky Castle that was left behind by Geresco, after all.
“Mage Felic, do you think it can really lead inside the tower?” Cheyenne turned to look at Lin Li. Although he seemed to be asking for Lin Li’s opinion, he was actually inviting him to go in together.
Lin Li looked away and thought about it for a moment. “This is an obvious trap, but the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock cannot be unlocked. There is only hope here. However, we can only find out if it can really lead to the inside of the tower by going in and exploring it.”
After a brief conversation, the two of them decided to venture into the terrace and explore it, even though they knew that the terrace was a trap. Although the terrace was about 10 meters high, it was not an issue for the Legendary powerhouses to fly past it. When they looked in through the door, they could vaguely see what was inside.
Were their worries and concerns redundant? Lin Li and Cheyenne looked at each other strangely before carefully making their way inside together. One step, two steps, three steps… All of a sudden, everything around them changed. Everything in the room had disappeared, replaced by a dense forest.
White clouds slowly fluttered in the blue sky, while the sun radiated a dazzling light. In the dense forest, the leaves rustled in the wind, and everything seemed so beautiful and real, without a single trace of illusion.
How is this possible? Lin Li turned to look at Cheyenne, only to realize that he was shocked and bewildered too. Lin Li was not a rash person. Since he knew that there was a trap on the terrace, he was very careful when entering. Despite being a Guru, he did not find any mageweaths, Alchemy Arrays, nor magic gears. In fact, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the magical waves, either.
Looking at the completely different scene in front of him, Lin Li recalled everything that happened just now, and a legend popped up in his head all of a sudden. It was about the High Elves in the Dark Age. It seemed that the current situation could only be explained by that legend.
Cheyenne held his staff tightly, and glanced at his surroundings vigilantly while saying, “Mage Felic, do you think that that legend could be real…?”
Lin Li didn’t see any trace of magic gears, because legend had it that this was a kind of magic. Despite being a Legendary-mage, Lin Li did not feel the slightest fluctuation of mana, because it was a magic spell cast by 10 mages of the Sanctuary-realm.
Although the Dark Age had already ended and the High Elves had been overthrown, while the Tree of Eternity was destroyed, no one would question their achievements in magic. During the heyday of the High Elves and their reign over Anril, the High Elves were the strongest race because of their perfect magical talents. It was said that the strongest defense force in the palace of the High Elves was not the Queen’s Magic Legion, but the Orderly Maze put up by 10 figures of the Sanctuary-realm.
The Orderly Maze was a level-25 spell that had a weak magical wave that was subtle and even impossible to feel at ordinary times. If its presence was not known in advance, even a Legendary-mage who had mastered the Rule Power would not be able to detect its existence.
That was one of the reasons that Lin Li and Cheyenne thought of this legend. Due to the sudden change in the environment, the two level-21 Legendary-mages did not feel the slightest fluctuation. It was as if the forest had always existed in the room, and they just naturally walked into it.
Although they knew since the start that there would be traps in this terrace, none thought that it would be the legendary Orderly Maze. Since it was called an Orderly Maze, it definitely had order as its highest rule. As long as one followed the correct path, they would not be affected at all.
Lin Li and Cheyenne had entered through the window; hence, they would definitely be punished by messing up the order, though no one knew how. However, the four of them were all keeping their guard up. They believed that the High Elves would not be so merciful as to only warn them using this spell.
The Orderly Maze was a level-25 spell that was set up by 10 powerhouses of the Sanctuary-realm. If the intruders would simply be transported to a different place, it would be a huge insult to magic.
Just as Lin Li and Cheyenne scrutinized the surroundings alertly while guessing the kind of magic that would be solidified in the Orderly Maze, a loud roar sounded from the forest all of a sudden. A demon exhaling a powerful breath rushed aggressively towards everyone.
The demon was 20 meters tall, with a huge sheep’s head and a pair of giant spiral sharp horns on top of his head. He also had red eyes and was continuously exhaling fumes of black gas from his nostrils.The demon’s body looked just like that of a human, but it was much taller and stronger. It also had a pair of black wings.
With every step of the demon, the ground would shake. The powerful aura also rose with the demon’s footsteps, while the black gas became thicker.
Staring at the aggressive demon, Lin Li and Cheyenne suddenly thought of the Demon Lord Marther!
Compared to Anril, the Endless Abyss was a place of survival of the fittest. The Demon Lord who could rule a layer of the Abyss was definitely the strongest demon in that layer because he had to challenge the previous lord and brave various battles to take the throne.