Chapter 520 - 2: Nightmare Body
The Marknas Empire, Observation Station #73.
A lead-gray sky hung low, meeting the ink-blue Endless Sea below.
A tower constructed entirely of massive, dark gray stones stood like a silent giant atop a rugged, steep cliff, unmoving against the howling sea winds and crashing waves.
Inside the core observation chamber at the top of the tower, the light was dim, with only a few floating Crystal Balls emitting a steady, cold glow.
Seated cross-legged on the central Meditation Platform was an unusually tall, bald Wizard, clad in a deep blue Magic Robe embroidered with a pattern of stars.
His features were stern, his skin a pallor that spoke of long years without sunlight.
Suddenly, his tightly shut eyes snapped open. His gaze seemed to pierce through the thick tower walls, locking onto a point above the Endless Sea.
"A spatial disturbance..." he murmured to himself. "Has someone else managed to struggle out of that cage of twisted Laws and depleted resources?"
He raised his right hand and tapped his index finger lightly in the air, instantly generating a complex, three-dimensional rune.
"Tower Spirit, acquire coordinates, analyze Energy signature, and attempt capture."
An emotionless, neutral voice immediately echoed from all directions. "Command confirmed, Astartes, Elemental Wizard. Activating the elemental pool. Linking the first Mist Lock. Target acquired. Commencing Energy signature scan..."
VMMMM!
The entire Wizard Tower trembled slightly as a faint blue light surfaced on its exterior. A vast amount of Energy was being drawn from the elemental pool.
An invisible Force Field, centered on the tower’s spire, rapidly spread out toward the void across the Endless Sea.
At almost the same moment the Tower Spirit activated, the space above the Endless Sea, roughly ten kilometers from the coastline, suddenly caved inward!
A mass of Energy, only about the size of a human head, emerged as if "squeezed" out of the void by an unseen force. It shone with a dim, strange light, a mixture of intertwined Crimson and Dark Gold.
The invisible Force Field had already arrived.
VMMMM!
A massive net of light, woven from countless faint blue threads and covering a sea area tens of meters wide, materialized from the Force Field, enveloping the ball of Energy!
The net contracted rapidly as innumerable fine Energy tendrils appeared out of thin air, attempting to ensnare the uninvited guest.
"Capture successful. Analyzing Energy signature: Highly Elementalized matter, mixed with multiple forms of Dimensional Energy. Core contains faint fluctuations of a life-imprint. Additionally..."
Back in the observation chamber, Astartes’s gray-white eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly. ’Elementalization? Can an Elementalized individual even emerge from an environment like the Abandoned Land? Could it be...’
Just then, the situation changed abruptly!
The mass of half-Crimson, half-Dark Gold Energy, which had been momentarily bound by the net, suddenly contracted inward before violently expanding!
BOOM!
The Crimson and Dark Gold light forcibly blasted the contracting blue net open!
Countless Energy tendrils snapped, and a huge gap was torn open!
Without hesitation, the ball of Energy transformed into a streak of light and shot away at incredible speed, attempting to flee deep into the Continent!
"Trying to run?" A hint of surprise crossed Astartes’s cold face. "Quick reflexes. Tower Spirit! Reinforce the capture net! Activate the second Mist Lock!"
"Command confirmed. Activating the second Mist Lock."
Above the sea, the torn blue net did not dissipate. Instead, its light intensified dramatically!
More and thicker beams of blue Energy coalesced from the void, not only repairing the damage but also constructing multiple, denser barriers of light in the path of the fleeing Energy mass!
The ball of Energy slammed head-on into the newly formed net, erupting with a gray light a hundred times more blinding than before!
The charcoal-gray and deep blue Energies collided madly, letting out a massive bang.
The terrifying shockwave from the impact slammed down onto the sea’s surface like an invisible sledgehammer!
BOOM!
An area of the sea tens of meters wide instantly caved in, forming a hemispherical crater over a hundred meters in diameter!
Immediately after, the displaced water surged back in all directions with the force of an avalanche, creating a ring-shaped mini-tsunami several meters high!
In the observation chamber, Astartes’s gaze was fixed on the gray light erupting from the struggle against the second Mist Lock. A fervent glow suddenly lit up his eyes!
"This is... a seed!" Astartes’s voice was a mixture of shock, ecstasy, and greed. "It really is a seed! No wonder it managed to achieve Elementalization. And a ’Wither’ seed from the Necromancy School, no less! Haha! The heavens are smiling on me! Excellent... I was in need of a suitable seed. If I can successfully analyze it, reaching the rank of Grand Wizard will be just around the corner!"
"Tower Spirit! At any cost! Lock onto that gray Energy source! Isolate it! You must capture this ’seed’ intact!"
"Command confirmed. Activating the third Mist Lock."
Above the sea, the net of light instantly grew more solid. Countless tiny white Energy needles materialized and shot toward the gray light like a downpour. Under the assault, the gray light began to fade rapidly.
Just as the gray light grew dimmer and was on the verge of being captured...
VMMMM!
An earth-shattering sword-cry rang out from the core of the Energy mass!
Immediately after, a beam of Crimson sword light—so pure and so condensed it was like the first ray of dawn piercing the deepest night—erupted fiercely from the center of the Energy mass!
SHIIIIING!
A piercing, tearing sound ripped across the sky!
The layered net of light, sustained by the immense Energy of the entire Wizard Tower, was effortlessly sliced in two by this Crimson sword light!
Like an enraged dragon breaking free from its cage, the Crimson sword light burst forth at a speed that defied all limits. It shot out from the tear, streaked across the sky, and vanished in an instant deep within the Western Continent, leaving only a scorching trail that lingered in its wake.