Chapter 253 Forbidden Magic
She quickly checked her condition. Besides the pulmonary discomfort from choking on water and bruises on various parts of her body from the impact, there were no fatal injuries. Her life status was also healthy, remaining above 80%.
The urgent task was to find the others.
Li Wen stood up, her steps landing lightly on the street covered in gray-white sediment, her boots sinking in with a faint rustling sound. The air here was thin and heavy, a mixture of seawater, decaying stone, and some residual magical substance. Giant stone pillars lay across the street like the skeletal remains of toppled giants. Beneath the broken plaza tiles, one could see exquisite reliefs half-buried by mud.
This ruin was too vast and too quiet, with only the occasional muffled sound of the sea flowing at the edge of a “bubble” in the distance.
She didn’t search blindly but spirally outwards from where she woke up. In such an unknown environment, maintaining a sense of direction and having an escape route was crucial.
After rounding a broken stone pillar, thick enough for three people to embrace, her footsteps suddenly stopped.
Not far ahead, a figure wearing familiar priest robes leaned quietly against the base of a collapsed fountain, half of his body shrouded in shadow. His eyes were closed, and his face appeared rather pale under the dim blue glow, though his breathing was steady.
It was Moriah.
Li Wen didn’t approach immediately but observed for a moment from where she stood. After confirming there were no other threats around, she moved closer silently.
As if sensing another presence, Moriah’s eyelids twitched slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes. A flicker of brief confusion flashed in his light-colored pupils. However, upon seeing Li Wen’s face, the confusion was quickly replaced by his usual composure.
“Miss Mephistopheles…” His voice was a little hoarse. He struggled to get up, and his gaze swept over the magnificent and eerie ruins around them, his brow furrowing. “What’s the situation now?”
“As you can see, a city submerged in the sea,” Li Wen stood up, her gaze directed into the depths of the ruins. “If I’m not mistaken, this should be the place where that Soul Lord is sealed, the core of ‘Cape of Submergence’.”
A hint of thought flashed through Moriah’s eyes. He took a deep breath, and the dense Aether in the air made him feel a sense of oppression.
“Such powerful residual Mana… this is almost the Domain of Forbidden Magic,” he said in a low voice, a look of gravity on his face. “The magic that created this ‘dry zone’ is still operating. It’s unimaginable power.”
Forbidden Magic was a term that only existed during the Silver Age, when the Norradon Empire was still standing. It was said that truth had not yet been split then, and the Silver Elves of Norradon learned supreme magic and great arts from it, thus establishing that great magical empire. Forbidden Magic was the most terrifying and unspeakable magic granted by truth to the Silver Elves. It was not merely powerful or terrifying; the caster often had to pay a terrible price for it.
One of the reasons for the downfall of the Norradon Empire was even the misuse of Forbidden Magic.
Theoretically, after the fall of Norradon, the inheritance of Forbidden Magic had also been severed. But that was an illusion. Even within the Kingdom of Arthur, many ancient High Elf families still possessed an unknown quantity of Forbidden Magic.
Li Wen didn’t understand magic, but Moriah did. He had experienced the trials of the Holy See’s Spellbreakers and understood magic even better than ordinary mages. Since he said it was the influence of Forbidden Magic, it was likely correct.
This should be the work of the mage who sealed the Soul Lord, and perhaps the reason why this once prosperous city sank into the deep sea.
“Where are the others?” Moriah scanned his surroundings. Apart from the two of them, no familiar figures could be seen. “Captain Remington and the others…”
“I don’t know.” Li Wen shook her head, her voice lacking much emotion. “The power of the vortex separated everyone. How many survived depends entirely on luck.”
Moriah fell silent. He struggled to stand up. Although his body was still a bit weak, the willpower of a Holy See priest allowed him to quickly regain mobility. He patted the dust from his robes, his gaze firm. “We need to find them as soon as possible.”
Li Wen didn’t comment. For her, finding the others was not the top priority, but she also knew that in this unknown and dangerous place, one more person, especially a reliable combatant like Moriah, would undoubtedly increase their chances of survival.
“Let’s figure out the situation first,” Li Wen said. “People from the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing are likely here too.”
Moriah nodded in agreement. The ship with the Scarlet cross and the Adventurer were both caught in the vortex. If they survived, there was no reason for the cult’s people to be annihilated.
Of course, the dangers here were definitely not limited to those cultists. The most not to be overlooked was the Soul Lord sealed here. Since he could send remnant souls to Port Beren, did it mean he had the ability to interfere with the outside world?
The two said no more and began to explore deeper into the ruins along the city’s main street. Their footsteps were light, constantly vigilant of their surroundings. No one knew what horrors were gestating in the shadows of this city that had been silent for over a hundred years.
On both sides of the street were magnificent architectural remains. The walls were covered with shells and barnacles, and exquisite sculptures were disfigured by seaweed. Occasionally, houses in intact forms could be seen, but their doors and windows had long since rotted. The dark entrances resembled passages to another world, exuding an unsettling aura.
They walked past a huge, half-collapsed plaza. In the center of the plaza, there should have originally been a large monument, but now only a cracked base remained. Beside the base, in the mud, an inconspicuous object caught Li Wen’s attention.
It was a piece of gray-white fabric, half-buried by sediment, but the corner of a cross embroidered with dark red thread could still be recognized.
Li Wen stepped forward and picked up the fabric with the tip of her dagger. The edge of the fabric showed signs of being forcibly torn, and it was still stained with dried, dark brown smudges.
“It’s a robe from the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing,” Moriah’s voice came from behind, with a hint of seriousness.
Li Wen turned the fabric over and found several parallel, deep scratches on the other side, which did not seem to be caused by a weapon, but rather by being clawed by something sharp.
“It looks like something ‘warmly’ welcomed them,” Li Wen said lightly. Her gaze followed the direction where the fabric had fallen. On the ground, there was a series of messy and blurred footprints, extending towards a narrower alleyway on the other side of the plaza.
The footprints were messy, with varying depths, clearly left in a frantic escape. Mixed among them were some non-human dragging marks with claw marks.
Li Wen and Moriah exchanged a glance, both seeing the same information in each other’s eyes – they were not the sole survivors in this ruin, and a silent hunt might have already begun in this silent city.
