Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 1/2)
Translator: Strivon
Number 3 suddenly went stiff when the Krait entered its stomach. The raging flames around Number 3 seemed to burn even more violently. Within the blaze, it seemed that its demonic body was nearly burned into nothingness. Its remnants pushed off to collide with the black plate. There was still a bit of the arachnid left to burn as the blaze exploded, turning it completely into scattered ashes. Ashes and sparks dropped onto the plate.
Had An Weng turned into scattered ash and smoke? Ouyang Chen and Fairchild did not see things this way.
It was just as they had expected. As the ash dropped onto the plate, the exhausted mist of chaos element began to gurgle and sputter. It rolled and billowed, increasing in scale.
Then, long limbs suddenly stabbed out from the turbid mist. They waved a few times and the ugly figure of a Human-Faced Arachnid stood up from within the mist. It had six dazzlingly-colored pupils and eight limbs. The flames that once burned upon it had disappeared. It seemed to be back at full power, though its size was much smaller than before.
It used to be the same size as the projection of the Scales of Truth. Now, it had shrunk by several folds and was around the same size as the Krait it had just eaten.
"He took the place of the Krait and severed the link, reintegrating the chaos element anew... This is outside of my expectations. It’s understandable though. This is indeed An Weng's style."
As Ouyang Chen sighed, the chaos element was saved from dissipation by being integrated under the Human-Faced Arachnid's control. The Human-Faced Arachnid was transformed. It became even more efficient, so much so that it could absorb from the darkness of the shadow pillar instead of being absorbed itself. It could continue to grow stronger.
It was quite logical for An Weng to devour the Krait and substitute himself for it, but there were many intricacies of the form that was the Krait. It was an extremely well-developed system of the Order of Justice and the best choice in controlling the chaos element.
Though the Human-Faced Arachnid was possibly on a higher level of power than the Krait, there were bound to be issues when linking with the Order of Justice's existing system.
Only someone as experienced and as powerful as An Weng could have adjusted, made a viable alternative for the Krait, and succeeded in such a short period of time.
The most exquisite part was not the rebirth of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was the integration with the projection of the Scales of Truth. The miniature form was not Number 3's body. It was Number 3's projection coming from within the Scales of Truth system.
The true Number 3 had already merged into the projection of the Scales of Truth. It was hard to separate them. To do so would mean mutual annihilation, the utter destruction of the Scales of Truth's projection.
This was a problem on another level.
Ouyang Chen did not slow down his advancement. He continued to approach the shadow pillar, analyzing and clearing the area close to him, allowing others to see the situation inside.
There were a few people who had the leisure to be concerned about this, but Zheng Xiao was one of them. This First Oblatum remained calm headed all this time, but in face of the constantly changing situation, there were many times where his brain simply crashed. It was only when Number 3 devoured the Krait did he truly get startled awake.
Zheng Xiao hugged his stomach. There was a mechanism that converted and connected his energy to the Krait, so his heart had nearly stopped when the Krait was devoured. Instead, his heart instantly pumped wildly in compensation. He was considered one of the fortunate ones. The surrounding priests and knights were all collapsed on the ground; they were completely unaware of how much the skyscraper was wobbling beneath their feet. Zheng Xiao did not know just how many could still be awoken.
He lifted his head up with a blank expression, looking into the depths of the shadow. Under the dual illumination of the projection of the Scales of Truth and Ouyang Chen with his ripples, the insides of the shadow were being peeled layer by layer. A portion of it had directly evaporated, while another portion of it had dissolved into the turbid mist of chaos element.
It could be confirmed with a fair amount of confidence that the projection of the Scales of Truth was utilizing the darkness of the shadow to rapidly expand the mass of the chaos element on the secular side. This was a highly efficient process... as seen from the situation with the scales right now.
The projection of the Scales of Truth faced a change due to the unbalanced state once again. However, the black plate was the one that continued to sink down this time. This showed that the masses on the two sides were beginning to invert in quantity.
Zheng Xiao had a vague recollection of this current phenomenon. This was the default state set by An Weng when he started up the Evolution Field. An Weng had even told him that perhaps a demon, as described in the holy scriptures, would take their place and contend against Fairchild, who seemed nigh undefeatable at the time.
Now it seemed that the demon had truly come. Moreover, its terrifying power far exceeded that of the Ears of Truth.
"Beneath thick clouds lies islands covered with boiling magma, while Demons bound in chains fly within the clouds..."
Was this the verification that An Weng sought?
He could not see the islands or the chains right now, but there were clouds and there was a demon. Half of the holy scriptures had been verified. Then, cautiously speaking, did this mean that the Gate of Truth truly existed in Xia City?
Zheng Xiao's cheeks twitched a bit. If they had come here tonight to just verify things, then their mission would be a complete success. They could leave with their accomplishment.
However, it seemed that the current An Weng had no thoughts of leaving in mind!
"Becoming a sacrificial vessel. Stealing the sky and substituting the sun in open deceit. According to the ritual procedures of the Order, An Weng, you want to..."
At this time, Zheng Xiao had just reasoned out a general outline. It was atop the white plate that was steadily rising. It was built from the Evolution Field and existed behind the Scales of Truth. It showed its form for the first time.
Becoming the weak side, what was atop the white plate was no longer qualified to remain anonymous.
What first appeared was the structure of a kite-shaped shield. A quicksilver aura circulated around it. This was the projection of the Shield of Truth and it undoubtedly represented Fairchild.
Zheng Xiao cast his gaze toward Building A, but his sight was blocked by the dark clouds of turbid mist. He could not see anything. He was unable to tell just what sort of mood Fairchild was in right now.
But then came a change that exceeded everyone's imaginations.
As soon as the projection of the kite shield appeared in its entirety, light and shadow manifested itself on the white plate once more. This time, the form was much more concise. It was a composite structure. It was a tetrahedron with an inscribed sphere and a circumscribed sphere.
"The Format Pyramid!"
Zheng Xiao's brain nearly crashed again. This Luo Nan... When in the world did he get on the scales?
The Scales of Truth was not something you could get on just by wanting to. The converting and transforming process was very complex. An extremely tight-knit system foundation and energy linking mechanism was needed.
Only An Weng could engage in a similar operation. Considering the time, did this not mean that Number 3 had come into contact with Luo Nan when it fled into the void in its moment of distress?
Well, it did not matter how much mass Luo Nan took up. The side of the white plate that bore their weight clearly did not match the overflowing abundance of chaos element on the other side.
The mass held by An Weng was not lacking at all; it was far too much. He could easily allocate the mass on his side. All he needed to do was withstand the pressure coming from the shadow of the demon in the background. Then, he could endlessly reap more mass from the shadow. This advantage was a hard one to break.
To this end, An Weng then added the final pen stroke to his plan.
Atop the black plate, the Human-Faced Arachnid opened its mouth and sucked in. It swallowed the surrounding turbid mist into its stomach. It was unknown how An Weng converted the mist, but what had once been scales in a constant slanted state actually began to level out.
The scales swung. The white and black plates moved up and down. The Human-Faced Arachnid swallowed clouds and puffed out mist. Clearly, it was calibrating its mass, searching for the point of equilibrium.
Things were too easy with this much mass available!
The white and black plates appeared level to each other once more, satisfying the conditions of the Order's holy entity. It was like a ripe, plump seed buried in the void.
A vague prayer incantation could be heard, acting as rain and fertilizer. The watering had a sequence to it and it lasted until the seed germinated. Branches and leaves sprouted to form a complicated structure of nature, to form a holy space of miracles!