Chapter 710: The Gate of Doom
Is this really just a mausoleum? Everyone was filled with extreme disbelief. Even before they entered, they had already imagined what the mausoleum would look like countless times. However, the truth told them that their imagination was still too weak. It was just like how a beggar could never imagine the life of a monarch.
Lin Li could already tell that the architectural style of the building in front of him was very similar to that of the Eternal Furnace, though it was much larger. The aura that the majestic building was giving out was also more terrifying than the Eternal Furnace’s. It was not inferior to the Sky Castle.
In front of the majestic building, there was a vast and flat square paved with moonstone. Under the clear blue sky, it emitted a beautiful and psychedelic blue light which made the entire square seem like a calm sea with light ripples. In the square, there were 24 giant crystal pillars more than 10 meters in width and more than 100 meters in height, covered with magical gemstones. The four stone pillars facing the gate of the mausoleum were like giant pillars in the sky. Each stone pillar was covered with beautiful and gorgeous patterns with beautiful rays of light intertwining around it, making everyone near the square hold their breaths in awe.
However, when everyone was still unable to recover from the shock, Lin Li frowned and looked down at the dreamy moonstone ground and the dazzling light, seemingly deep in thought.
“Felic, what are you looking at?” Andoine asked. Before Lin Li could even respond, he glanced at the vast square and exclaimed in awe, “Osric has really splurged on this mausoleum! It’s just a place where his body was going to be buried, yet he set it up in such an exaggerated manner. Was he thinking of enjoying this place when he got reborn someday? Sure enough, the stronger they are, the more they can’t get over death!”
After a while, the crowd gradually recovered from the shock. However, Lin Li was still staring at the ground as if he had never seen moonstone before. He then looked around and seemed to be muttering something.
“If there are no other issues, can we continue advancing?” Aldwin asked Rosen and Andoine.
“Okay, let’s go,” Rosen said with a nod.
“Wait a minute, Felic seems to have seen something in the square. We’d better wait for a while,” Andoine said. Although Andoine and Lin Li had not spent that much time together, he knew that Lin Li wasn’t the type to fool others. Although Lin Li didn’t say anything, Andoine could tell from his behavior that he seemed to have been attracted by something in the square.
“What do you see? It’s just a ground paved with moonstone. He’s probably just bedazzled by the light. If there was any danger, wouldn’t I be able to tell? There are no traps annotated on the map that we have,” said Rosen, who was still quite confident about his own eyesight—in addition to being a Legendary powerhouse, he was also an actual Guru of Inscription. Hence, he believed that his knowledge about mageweaths was the best in Anril.
“What a joke. Why would they tell you what the traps are and where they are set? In that case, why wouldn’t they just open the door and allow you to enter freely? Felic has even gone to the Sky Castle. What else has he not seen before? Do you think he’s like that idiotic student of yours who thinks he’s the top genius of the world just because he has seen a small part of the world?” Andoine sneered.
“This is Osric’s mausoleum, not the Sky Castle. Besides, I want to remind you, don’t forget that I am the leader of this operation.” After that, Rosen glanced at Lin Li who was deep in thought, and a look of disdain formed in his eyes. He turned to look at Aldwin, and said, “Continue advancing, the Sky Tower is still suppressing the Immortal Door. We don’t have much time to waste here.”
Aldwin looked helplessly at the two people. Although he was very fond of Lin Li, he was well aware of Rosen’s accomplishments in Inscription. Since Rosen said that there was no problem, that should really be the case. Moreover, when discussing the exploration plan, Megard allowed Rosen to take charge despite not stating it explicitly. Hence, Rosen was the main moderator of the operation.
The mages had already forgotten about the shock that they were in, and they strode forwards orderly on the glossy ground after receiving the commands.
All of a sudden, a fast-moving shadow quickly enveloped the ground of the square. It turned out to be a white cloud, floating in the sky and blocking the sunlight. Watching the moonstone lose its luster, Lin Li was flabbergasted, and an answer immediately formed in his head.
“Wait…” Lin Li raised his head and was about to give them a reminder, but he saw that the mages had already gotten into a defensive formation and stepped onto the flat and smooth ground of the square, causing the moonstone to suddenly become dimmer.
At this moment, not to mention Rosen, every mage could tell that something was wrong. Aldwin yelled at the mages behind and instructed them to retreat immediately—no trap in Osric’s mausoleum was not to be belittled. The mages were the pillars of the Alanna Guild of Magic, and losing one would be a huge heartache for Aldwin. However, the traps laid by Osric the butcher would definitely be lethal.
The ground of the entire square seemed to have suddenly experienced a power outage, and the moonstone that was emitting eternal light suddenly became dim. In the center of the square, the two giant pillars facing the gate of the mausoleum had become brighter, and they resembled lampposts. Between the pillars, there were electric snakes running back and forth, making crackling noises and covering the mausoleum.
“Felic, what kind of trap is this?” Andoine asked Lin Li, feeling worried as he watched the amazing changes in the square.
Lin Li shook his head helplessly, and answered, “If I’m not wrong, it might be the Gate of Doom. Get everyone to get ready for a battle.”
Upon hearing that it was the Gate of Doom, even an Alchemy jockey Andoine began to feel uneasy. Although he didn’t know much about alchemy, he knew that the Gate of Doom was a Master-level Alchemy Array that was used to open the channel between Anril and the Endless Abyss. The only hope now was for the Gate of Doom to open a channel that was not too far down in the Endless Abyss Otherwise, even if the mages were to win the battle, they would inevitably suffer a lot of losses.
“Since you’ve already seen it, why didn’t you tell me what your idea was?” Rosen scowled at Lin Li. He was the one who ordered the mages to continue to move forward, and claimed that there was no danger, but this time, there was actually such a huge change that was like a slap in his face. He naturally thought that Lin Li had already seen the traps in the square, and was waiting for him to fall into it.
“On the ground of the square, the magic gears were triggered, and the magic circuit has been blocked by the light reflected by the moonstone and the sky. If it weren’t the shadow caused by the cloud just now, I would have needed a little more time to find out. As for the Gate of Doom Alchemy Array, it is right in the middle of the two pillars. If the trigger magic gears were not activated, no one would be affected by the Alchemy Array.” Lin Li looked at Rosen, and sneered, “Osric is an absolute genius. The profound knowledge he possessed is far from what you can imagine, so don’t think that you can pass through this mausoleum just because you have some understanding of Inscription. That will only result in the deaths of everyone.”
No one dared to talk to him that way except his teacher. Rosen glanced at Lin Li who was in his early twenties, and began to grow a little infuriated. However, before he could even say anything else, the Gate of Doom was fully opened, and countless Abyssal Demons suddenly rushed out, filling the vast square almost immediately.
“The Abyssal Predators, Kamela and Amut. Seems like it’s the seventh floor of the abyss.” Lin Li looked at the Abyssal Demons that were surging out of the Gate of Doom and realized that most of them were unique to the seventh floor of the abyss, which gave him a sense of relief. If the Gate of Doom were to connect below the 20th floor of the abyss, they would probably face a tough battle, while the demons on the seventh floor could only post a relatively limited threat to them despite having considerable strength.
The Abyssal Predator looked just like a giant lizard, but it seemed to be walking like humans. However, they were not lizardmen, because they did not have much intelligence. They had poisonous claws and fine, sharp teeth as their weapons. They could easily tear apart sturdy armor and were extremely agile, just like assassins among humans. However, in terms of strength, most Abyssal Predators were only level-10, and only very few could reach level-15.
Kamela and Amut were both demons that were at the top of the food chain on the seventh floor of the abyss, and their strength was around level-15.
The demon Kamela had a lion’s head and a sheep’s body, and could also spit out black flames. At the same time, the huge body also gave it great physical strength. Claws and strong teeth were also its deadly weapons.
The demon Amut was like a giant flying crocodile with wings on its back to allow it to perform short-distance flight. The most powerful weapon against enemies was not its body, but its earth-element magic.
Although these demons from the seventh floor were more powerful than the Undead Army in the Shadowglen, they were after all facing the Alanna Guild of Magic, one of the powerful forces of Anril. Seeing that countless demons were surging out, the mages all remained composed and everyone raised the Crescent Staffs in their hands as the overwhelming magic suddenly swept towards the demons.
Facing the tide-like demons, the 200-odd mages were like a small boat floating in the sea. They were extremely thin and fragile as if they would capsize when hit by a massive wave. However, under the commands of their commander Lampard, they seemed to have rooted themselves to the ground, and remained still despite the roaring Abyssal Demons.
Kamela spat out a mass of abyssal flames, but when it was about to fall on the mages, it was blocked by a faint ray of light, and was reflected back to the demons which besieged the mages, causing the demons to wince and howl in pain.
Ice Spears and Wind Blades seemed to have formed a barrage as they darted out like missiles. The mages were only casting some low-level magic, but they were strong enough to result in the collapse of the Abyssal Demons.
To the mages, Ice Spear was a relatively low-level offensive spell, but when an Ice Spear hit the demons, the damage would be incredible. As long as they could break through the enemy’s defense and damage the enemy, the effects of low-level magic and powerful magic would be the same. With the excellent magical equipment on their bodies, the mages seemed to recover their mana almost instantly. Even if they were to kill all the Abyssal Demons, their mana would probably still be full.
However, their purpose this time was not to battle, but to explore Osric’s mausoleum. Andoine raised his staff and first looked at Rosen before turning to look at Aldwin. “It’s not the time to train them now. We haven’t even entered the gate of Osric’s mausoleum. Let me deal with the demons.”
Andoine flew into the air and swung his staff with momentum while chanting a spell. Noticing that Andoine was about to take action, Aldwin ordered the mages to transition to pure defense.
Just as the magical defense of the mages was put up, Andoine finished casting his spell and raised the staff into the sky. Dark clouds rolled in the sky, and the entire square was cast in shadow. Next, lightning seemed to have filled the sky and fallen down onto the square like heavy rain.