Chapter 457 - 455: Itching for Action
The mercenaries’ discussion continued.
"The Abyss Gate will release a lot of demons. It’s said that the Era of Calamity was caused by the Abyss Gate being opened."
"Then why was there no problem when the Mage League opened the Abyss Gate?"
"There was a problem! The tournament was suspended for several days because many demons appeared inside, many of which were above the fourth rank. Just thinking about it is terrifying."
"What happened afterwards?"
"It seems that a mysterious mage from the Divine Magic Academy closed it. A few days ago, there were also students from the Divine Magic Academy here. Could it be that their arrival caused the Abyss Gate to open?"
"What? Students from the Divine Magic Academy opened the Abyss Gate?"
"What? The Holy Court opened the Abyss Gate?"
"..."
Listening to the increasingly absurd discussions around him, Donier, who was broadcasting the live situation of the Golden Apple Stone Forest, couldn’t help but frown.
You’re really not afraid of death, are you? Be careful, or the Law Enforcement Knight Order might overhear you and arrest you.
At this moment, he suddenly noticed a change in the Abyss Gate.
When the Abyss Gate expanded to the point where a small disc could be seen with the naked eye from here, the pollution in the Golden Apple Stone Forest reached its peak.
Then, all the pollution gathered towards the Abyss Gate, plunging fiercely into it.
If you were to observe the entire Golden Apple Stone Forest from high above, you would see that the pollution flowed like air currents circulating, and at this moment, the circulation turned into an inverted vortex, with the surrounding pollution slowly rotating towards the central Abyss Gate.
Like a typhoon, the Abyss Gate was the eye of the storm.
Of course, the many mercenaries watching from the periphery only felt the pollution in turmoil, like strong winds blowing, without realizing the pollution was rotating and gathering towards the center.
Yet this scene shocked them.
Because the gray mist over the entire Golden Apple Stone Forest was tumbling, and they were standing high, watching the clouds rise and fall, the swirling gray mist was very spectacular, very beautiful.
And very deadly.
Everyone’s voices slowly faded, all eyes fixed on this scene.
...
Hilia was also watching, but from an aerial view.
She and Melina, along with three others, overlooked from high above the Golden Apple Stone Forest, clearly seeing the entire scene.
Her magic puppet was currently requisitioned by Rose, relying on its robust materials to withstand the pollution riot inside.
Of course, he also set up a protection for himself, remaining unmoved amidst the riotous pollution.
Shuoen, watching the increasingly fast-spinning gray mist below, couldn’t help asking, "Hilia, will this Abyss Gate absorb the chaotic magic power?"
Hilia replied, "It’s unclear for now, but most likely it won’t. The Abyss has no magic, only pollution. Absorption is only for pollution; other energies shouldn’t be absorbed."
Blake chuckled, "Is the old guy worrying that chaotic magic power entering the Abyss will affect its ecology?"
Shuoen quickly denied, "The Abyss is the world of demons; why should I care about how well the demons live?"
"Hahaha!" Blake burst into laughter.
Melina looked at Hilia, her beautiful eyes filled with amazement.
Hilia’s talent with the array shocked her, relieved that Hilia was on their side.
If another empire or even a heretical group had acquired Hilia, perhaps the Holy Court’s final authority would crumble, reduced to mere symbols.
Once the current Holy Master dies, they might be divided immediately.
Thankfully, Hilia appeared.
She approached Blake, asking in a low voice, "Did Hilia really study at your school for only two years?"
Blake shook his head, "I don’t know. You can ask me about magic, but I don’t understand arrays. Whether Hilia learned it from school..."
Blake paused, then chuckled, "Do you think if the school had such advanced arrays, the Holy Court would still be in decline?"
Melina shook her head.
Blake smiled slightly, "Hilia said she’s been blessed by the Gods. Don’t tell me you’re like Alvis, who doesn’t believe in the existence of Gods?"
Melina pondered, "A revelation from the Gods?"
She decided to look into which God has high expertise in arrays once she returns, and pray to them to see if she can receive blessings.
As she was thinking, Hilia’s voice suddenly came, "Bishop Melina, inform the Law Enforcement Knight Order that the pollution frenzy has caused the demons within the Golden Apple Stone Forest to become agitated. They’re fleeing outward; pay attention to their movements."
Melina’s face turned serious, "Alright, I will have someone intercept these demons."
The demons within the Golden Apple Stone Forest are all low-tier, the highest being only fourth rank, and very scarce.
Perhaps there used to be many, but since the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association settled, their numbers have dwindled.
However, the high-tier ones are gone; the low-tier demons haven’t been thoroughly exterminated by the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association.
So—
Along the borders of the Golden Apple Stone Forest, the mercenaries enraptured by the scenery felt the ground tremble.
Then the call of the Law Enforcement Knight Order came.
"Beast tide?"
Their expressions changed, immediately returning to grab weapons and magic puppets, prepared for battle.
Rose, controlling Hilia’s magic puppet, used Spiritual Power to transform it into a Mage’s Hand and entered the array, linking it with the Golden Apple Stone Forest’s array to understand the situation of the beast tide.
He didn’t pay much heed.
Most fleeing were first and second rank, along with a few third rank ordinary demons; those above fourth rank weren’t affected. Instead, they were hiding, shivering, not daring to move.
"At this absorption rate, it won’t be until after tomorrow that we can activate the array below to extract the deeper demonic qi pollution. Let’s head back first."
Rose wasn’t worried about his array being destroyed by lingering heretics.
Even if the materials used for setting up the array seemed quite basic to Rose, they were advanced materials effective for fourth to sixth rank mages.
If the array were so easily destroyed by heretics, he could forget about breaking the seal and returning; he might as well continue his training.
Rose sent the message to Hilia, then flew up from below on a flying broom.
Noticing the arrival of the magic puppet, Melina was surprised, "Hilia’s magic puppet? When did you put it down? We didn’t notice."
Hilia giggled, "I put it down long ago; you just didn’t pay attention."
Saying this, she didn’t let others speak further, retrieved the magic puppet, and said, "Let the Abyss Gate keep absorbing here. It will take many days to absorb fully, not so easy to finish."
"Alright." The three nodded.
Hilia hitched a ride and quickly returned to the outside of the Golden Apple Stone Forest.
She saw below the mercenaries and Law Enforcement Knights entangled with the demons and said to Melina, "Bishop Melina, let me down. I’ll go purify some demons and collect some materials."
"Sure."
Hilia grabbed the flying broom and jumped down from Melina’s aircraft.
The girl’s eyes glinted with excitement.
She had been fighting high-tier enemies all along; it had been a long time since she could easily crush some weaklings.
Hilia’s hands itched with eagerness as she joined the battle.