Chapter 457: The Maze of the Sea Serpent IX
Grimm left the cavern alone, as the sorcerers who had lost their sorcery gazed on.
Looking up at the gray sky with Phagocytic Shells floating around, the gigantic spiraling whirlpool seemed to be preventing the invasion of the Eye of Destruction. Tension existed constantly but occasionally, strange light-red thunder appeared in the sky.
Grimm took out the Sorcerer Coin.
On one side of the gold coin was a circle enclosing the Six Asterism Magical Array which represented the Will of the Sorcerer. On the other side of the gold coin was a cross, made up of a magical staff and a long sword with a gigantic gear which looked like a skull. The background of the cross was made up of an image, representing the Sorcerer Continent, Elemental Sorcerers, Underground Abyss Anatomy Refinery Sorcerers, Sky City Machinists and Black Field Black Sorcerers.
With the circulation of the golden ray, Grimm tossed the coin into the air, caught it in mid air and covered it with his hand. He did not look at the result but started talking to himself.
“Is this an illusory mirage, or a double illusory mirage?”
By illusory mirage, it meant that the sea serpent illusion within the Phagocytic Shell was a trick by the maze of the sea serpent which Grimm tried to escape from. It was to steer a group of people who had left the auto-narcosis Spectral World to acknowledge the relatively real imagination through a severe contrast and cause them to eventually be captivated.
It seemed like a dream within a dream.
A double illusory mirage meant that many people in reality were lost and misled further by the deeper mirage of the Phagocytic Shell after entering the same Spectral World.
Without a doubt, Grimm was currently in some kind of Spectral World, or he would not have lost contact with Little Myna as they were interlinked by the Space-Time Coordinates.
The different estimations that Grimm was making wisely now would affect the actions of future plans so he ought to be very cautious.
If this was an illusory mirage, it proved that everything around Grimm now, including the sorcerers, were all illusions and Grimm could still continue to escape from the maze of the sea serpent through a suicidal method. Currently, Grimm was only under a certain sorcery.
If this was a double illusory mirage, then it proved that at least these sorcerers and the creatures from the endless world who had entered the maze of the sea serpent, existed and were real flesh and blood. Together, they had fallen into a magical law’s Spectral World.
Without looking at the result of the coin toss, Grimm put the coin away.
The fact was Grimm had merged the maze of the sea serpent and the self-illusionary world into one, and had classified it as an illusion.
As he was still under the sorcery of the Phagocytic Shell, he could not be one hundred percent sure.
The largest proof that Grimm had was this Sorcerer Coin!
Grimm would never tell the other people in the maze of the sea serpent that each time he tossed the Sorcerer Coin while in the Phagocytic Shell’s illusionary world, it was never an upright Sorcerer Coin, but rather the obverse side of the coin like when he first tossed it in front of the pupae.
However, each time Grimm tossed the Sorcerer Coin in the Phagocytic Shell, it was upright and it eradicated the illusion of the Phagocytic Shell.
What was the meaning behind this?
***
Without acting hastily, Grimm needed more proof to confirm what he was thinking.
Hiding himself carefully, Grimm tracked Johann who had gone towards Mount Serpentine.
If the maze of the sea serpent was only a deceitful world, as if one was under a certain sorcery, it must have its purpose, just like anyone who practiced sorcery would have his purpose.
Grimm recalled the moment he left the Phagocytic Shell and all the messages he had received accidentally.
These messages were illusions disguised as the fate of the endless world’s secret guidance.
First was the dreadfulness of the Eye of Destruction.
He must not be out of range from the power of Serpentine during the awakening of the sea serpent’s pearls when the Eye of Destruction arrived.
Next was the importance of the Spring of Serpentine.
If he could exchange for the Spring of Serpentine with the sea serpent’s pearls he had hunted, the effect after consuming it would be to gather the power of Serpentine and to hopefully escape from this Spectral World.
Finally, it was the respect for Mount Serpentine.
According to Grandalph, it was the center of the world and hence, conversely, to the Eye of Destruction, it was something evil.
However, could the Spring of Serpentine, which was attracted by the Nightmare Shadow and acted on polluted mental strength, be the hope to escape from this Spectral World?
Furthermore, the setup by fate was also suspicious!
It all seemed too well laid out.
To Grimm, Grandalph, the half Stigmata sorcerer’s action to personally protect and not leave the Mana Pool represented his complete acceptance and guidance towards his faith.
This also meant that there was no conflict of interest between her and Grimm and that Grimm was the beneficiary and would obey her without question.
It was a long-term goal.
If he could continuously hunt for the sea serpent’s pearls which were awakened by the Eye of Destruction, then he could bring along Grandalph’s inheritance and leave this Spectral World.
A partner in battle and an object of reference for the comparison of abilities.
Johann was also a Wild Anatomy Refinery Sorcerer. The improvements Grimm could make after gaining the power of Serpentine was reflected fully on Johann.
There were also creatures from the endless world that had landed here, as if filling Mount Serpentine with unknown possibilities, a new and unknown journey with new and continuous challenging targets.
Grimm had read quite a few fantasy novels.
If it were similar to the fantasy novels, the world described in the Phagocytic Shell was wonderful but not real. After Grimm’s short experience, he was suddenly sober and realized that the situation he was in was all but an illusion and tried to break away from it.
Hence, at this moment, the world described in the maze of the sea serpent was undoubtedly full of confusion, non-judgemental and a better fantasy story.
“Um?”
Suddenly, Grimm sensed slight danger. This wild instinct awareness was an ability only an Anatomy Refinery Sorcerer possessed.
Subconsciously, Grimm stopped moving forward. Leaning his body backwards, he waved his Sabbatic Goat Staff towards the direction of danger.
Clink! A bone tooth dagger was hanging onto the goat’s skull.
Immediately after that, a creature with whitish-gray fur and a lion-like mane revealed itself from its invisible form.
This creature had a strong build with a height of two meters and from its mouth below its tusks, it released a husky, threatening sound, just like a carnivorous beast. One of its eyes seemed blinded and was covered by a black eye patch.
“What power!”
Grimm was struck by the force of the dagger and was sent flying backwards. Just as he marveled at his opponent’s amazing strength, he was faced with his opponent’s attack.
At that time, the Sabbatic goat staff only had the hardness of the World Lord’s skull and the mystical energy of the staff. Its high density shockwave ability had unfortunately disappeared.
“Such speed!”
The other party was a Level-2 creature. By harnessing the power of Serpentine, it had converted into one who was equivalent to a spiritual high priest who possessed Level-2 abilities.
Grimm shouted, “Wild Instinct Level 1, open!”
His body was stretched and filled with a strong, vigorous and wild smell. Multitudes of black scales appeared and thickly covered his body, emitting a gloomy luster.
This enabled Grimm to keep up with his opponent’s pace in battle even though he had lost his sorcery.
Clink, clunk…
It was the sound of metal clashing against each other. This creature from a foreign land scratched Grimm’s scales with its left claw, making a sharp noise and tearing his scales causing blood to squirt out of his left shoulder.
“Roar!”
The two-meter tall strong body pressed against Grimm’s body and Grimm fell to the ground with a loud bang.
The bone tooth dagger with the ray from the power of Serpentine came slashing down onto Grimm’s neck, as if trying to cut his head off.
“Wild instinct level 2, open!”
Grimm’s body expanded to three-meters tall as he was stuck between the legs of the foreign land creature. Spikes appeared on his black scales with each measuring twenty to thirty centimeters, and dark breath circled on top of each spike.
With violent breath filling the air, Grimm was like a gigantic beast who had just awakened from its slumber.
With Grimm as the center, ripples began to spread. The bone tooth dagger cut a spike on his neck but could not attack Grimm any further.
The creature was furious as it had failed to kill its target.
Bang!
Grimm’s bone armor on his left cheek was hit and it cracked. At the same time, this whitish-gray-fur creature leapt away as it might have been hit by Grimm’s body spikes.
Grimm pushed himself off the ground in haste, and under his bone armor, his eyes revealed the radiance of deterrence.
Without the help of sorcery, Grimm’s ability had deteriorated tremendously because Grimm was not a real Anatomy Refinery Sorcerer.
Although this creature with a lion-like mane and whitish-gray fur was threatening and roaring at Grimm, it knew that Grimm was not a weakling and could not hunt him down recklessly. Thus, it took two steps backwards and its body slowly became half invisible, as if it had decided not to fight with Grimm.
Grimm too, was not willing to fight with this strong creature.
Grimm could not let down his guard. He backed off slowly and carefully, step by step, so slowly that it seemed as if it was merely the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Grimm moved further and further away, and from afar, there was a wailing sound.
Grimm gazed on in bewilderment. The top half of Johann’s body had appeared on the cliff of Mount Serpentine. With his widely opened eyes glaring and one hand reining in the half-invisible creature’s neck, his other hand inserted into his opponent’s chest from the back. The power of Serpentine kept on burning.